Not a Vacation
by Paulina Ann
Summary: *COMPLETE* Sequel to "Saved from the Queen..." Allura wants to pursue a relationship but Keith is reluctant. What will happen when Keith accompanies Allura on a trip to Taralano to purchase weapons for Arus? Romance? Maybe a little, but a lot more in the way of adventure/drama. Some fluff, then adventure! (a number of OCs in this one, the team is also involved)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters. First few chapters are on the fluffier side...

* * *

**Chapter One**

Two months, that's how long it had been since she had rescued Keith from Queen Merla. Allura had thought that their relationship would change to something more romantic after that incident. All the signs had been there. On the way back to Arus after the rescue, Keith had held her hand on the shuttle and had told her she was the only one for him. Neither of them had said the word love to each other. Well, Merla had told Keith that Allura loved him, but she hadn't said it herself. So neither of them had said love but she had felt it. However, he now was back to closing himself off. She had asked Lance about it but he said that Keith hadn't talked about it.

She stared at the electronic invitation on her computer screen. The information on the screen crowded out her thoughts of Keith. The Premier of Taralono had invited her to come view some new weapon creations. Arus was in great need of better defenses and she knew that Pollux had purchased some large-scale weapons from them and had been satisfied. She drummed her fingers on the desk and ignored the buzz that indicated that she had an incoming call. Finally, she slammed her hand on the com button when it wouldn't stop and growled out an irritated, "What is it?"

"Ummm, are you okay, Princess?"

Allura now used her hand to smack herself in the head. Of course, it would have to be Keith calling. "Yes, Keith, I'm fine." She sighed as her eyes drifted back to the electronic missive on her screen. "I was just trying to work out a plan for a trip to Taralono. What did you need?"

"Taralono? You are planning on going to Taralono? Have you spoken to Coran? Has he approved this?" Questions from Keith rattled off like ion darts firing out of the lions.

Allura's tone became defensive. "Yes, I _am_ thinking of going to Taralono and _no_, I haven't spoken to Coran. And just so you'll know, I don't _need_ to have his approval to go. I will bring it up with him later today to get his input about the trip. Once we have a plan, I will check with you about a security detail. Perhaps Hunk could go with me." She could visualize Keith's impatience with her.

"I didn't mean… What I meant to say is…" Keith ran his hand through his hair. This wasn't anything like he was expecting when he had called. "Just let me know what you and Coran decide. As for your security detail," and his voice became low and firm, "I plan to be on it. Keith out."

Keith sat back in his office chair and spun to face his window. He had called to see if she had wanted to go horseback riding. He had been acting like a jerk lately. The whole thing with Merla was awkward. Though they had both talked about having feelings for each other, he still had problems believing that she was truly in love with him. A crush maybe. After all, he was the commander of the team that had reanimated the mecha warrior Voltron that had given her people hope. He thought she was just in love with what he had done and represented. After the… situation… with Merla, he had noticed her looking at him more when they were working out. She had literally seen a lot of him when she had rescued him and while he wasn't vain about his looks, he had been told his body was 'hot' by enough women to believe it. Hormones. That was what he thought might be motivating Allura's looks at him. He closed his eyes. He had decided to ask her to go riding in order to be around her in a casual situation where it was just the two of them. Being around her in a situation where they could just be Keith and Allura was what he had wanted. Now she was irritated at him and planning a trip off-planet requesting someone besides himself for security. Shaking his head, he thought, "Women." Time to talk to Lance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Keith joined Lance in the gym and spotted him as him as he bench pressed some weights. Lance was the only guy around that might have a clue about Allura and what was going on in her mind.

Lance listened patiently. Placing the weights back in the stand, he sat up and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his face. "So, after Allura requested Hunk for security, what did you say?"

"She didn't really request him, she just put his name out there like a suggestion." As Lance raised an eyebrow, Keith quickly continued, "I told her to let me know what she and Coran decided about the trip and as for security, I told her I was going to be on it."

A long low whistle came from Lance's lips. "You two have it bad."

Keith crossed his arms and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"For someone on the outside of the relationship and for someone who actually understands the female gender, it is obvious."

"Enlighten me. Please," said Keith with exasperation.

"You two already had feelings for each other before that loin cloth incident with Merla." Lance put up a hand that stopped Keith's response before it could begin. "Don't even try to deny it. I know it, the team knows it, and hell, even Merla knew it. I'm not saying everyone has figured it out since you play your cards so close to the chest, but the princess doesn't, and her feelings for you are easy to see." Lance put down his hand when he saw that Keith wasn't going to try to argue. "Now she knows that you have feelings for her because you told her in the shuttle. She wants to pursue those feelings and all you've been doing is putting her off."

"I still don't see how that has anything to do with what happened today."

Sighing, Lance stated with exasperation, "Of course you don't." He ignored the glare that Keith gave him. "When you questioned her about going to Taralono, she saw it as you questioning her ability to make her own decisions. She didn't see it as you being concerned about her safety. Tell me, was your tone that of a friend that was concerned or a commander drilling a subordinate?" Watching Keith's face turn red he stated, "Don't bother to answer, I can see it in your face. She was mad with you. You jumped to conclusions about the trip without getting details from her. I told you that she planned the majority of your rescue. Don't you think she can plan a simple trip to look at some weapons?"

"I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about her security." Running the fingers of both hands through his hair and locking his fingers behind his head, Keith said, "She asked for Hunk because she was upset and because she thinks that I don't trust her decisions."

"Yep. Maybe with some help from me, you can figure women out." Lance glanced around Keith as he heard the gym door open. A chuckle escaped from Lance. "However, I wouldn't worry if I were you. I think a certain princess is having difficulty getting the images of you in that thong out of her head."

Dropping his arms, Keith growled out, "I told you it was a loin cloth, not a thong."

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Allura's voice came from behind Keith.

As he saw Keith shooting daggers from his eyes, Lance casually replied, "No. No. You're not interrupting anything at all. Keith and I were just talking about the great job you did planning his rescue from Merla. Well, that and the thong she made him wear." Lance saw Keith close his eyes and clench his fists. He would pay for this at some time. But it wouldn't be now.

"Oh no, Lance, Keith is right. It was more of a loin cloth than a thong." At this, both Keith and Lance turned to stare at the furiously blushing princess. Allura started stammering, "What I mean… What I meant… Oooooo. Nevermind."

Keith gently took her arm and led her away from the chuckling lieutenant. "Don't worry about him. He was teasing me earlier too." Keith looked over his shoulder to glare at Lance, who only gave him a mock salute and a wink. Turning back to Allura, Keith began, "Before you say anything, let me apologize for earlier. I didn't mean to question your decisions." He looked at a point on the wall just to the right of her head. "I was just… worried about you."

Allura had been hardening herself since their conversation to put him in his place. But then she walked in the gym and saw him in his workout clothes which brought reminders of how he looked on Merla's ship. It didn't help that she got all flustered when Lance got her to mention that loin cloth. She blushed again. She completely softened just now when Keith admitted that he had been worried about her. "I was really angry at you earlier." Words left her as his concerned deep brown eyes turned to stare into hers. "I… I'm okay now."

A smile formed on Keith's lips. "I'm glad you forgive me." Then in a tone that was inquiring and not demanding, he asked, "Have you spoken to Coran? Have the two of you worked out the trip?"

Pleased at his change in tone, she replied, "Yes we have. We'll be leaving next week if you approve of the plan." Allura's eyes went down to her hands where she was twisting a ring around on her finger. "I have to say that Coran was a little uncertain until I told him that you were going to be part of my security detail. His agreement came quickly after that." She glanced up to meet Keith's eyes. "Thank you for coming with me."

Keith was mesmerized by her eyes and her soft words. Locking his eyes with hers he started to reply when Lance called out, "Hey, why don't you two kiss or something?"

Allura broke eye contact with Keith to glare over his shoulder at Lance.

Keith just closed his eyes and called out. "Lieutenant! Be here tonight at 2200 for martial arts practice with me." He opened his eyes to see Allura smiling at him. Taking her arm again, he said, "How about going for a horseback ride with me?"

Allowing herself to be led from the room, Allura replied, "I'd love to, Keith."

Walking over to the hamper, Lance tossed the towel inside and looked at the door. Smiling as he headed into the showers, he thought, _I'm going to pay for it later, but it was worth it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters. First few chapters are on the fluffier side...

* * *

**Chapter 2**

An hour later they were sitting on a grassy hill that overlooked what could only be called a bubbling brook. The water sparkled and danced as it traveled over the rocks in the streambed. The sound of the flowing water was peaceful and hypnotic to the young couple that stood on the hillside. Keith had just finished tying up the horses in the nearby shade of a tree grove. Coming to stand beside Allura, he didn't know if he should sit or wait for her. An internal sigh released in him when she sat down and patted the grass beside her.

Smiling up at Keith, Allura leaned back propping on her elbows, closing her eyes, and tilting her face back to catch the heat of the sun.

Keith couldn't help but stare. She was beautiful. She had changed out of the voluminous pink gown into a lavender and brown riding outfit complete with brown leather boots. He had no idea a riding outfit could be so sexy. He saw her open an eye and look at him. Sitting down hurriedly and resting his arms on his knees, he spoke, "I haven't been to this spot before. It's beautiful."

Keeping her eyes closed as she soaked in the sun, Allura responded, "My father brought me here as a child. The last time I came out here was two years before you came and I was devastated by how it looked." A frown formed on her face. "The brook was muddy, the leaves on the trees had blight, the grass was dry and patchy, and you couldn't hear or see a bird anywhere. I couldn't bear to come here again and see it that way."

Hearing the sorrow in her voice, Keith reached out to put his hand over hers.

Allura looked at him and her frown turned to a smile. "It's okay." Using her other hand, she indicated the beauty around them. "Just look at it now. It's beautiful, and I probably could have come here months ago."

He looked at her curiously. It had sounded as if she was going to say more. "But…"

Turning her head slowly to look up him, she softly said, "But I wanted to come here with someone special. I wanted to share this moment and this place with you. I waited until I thought you were ready." Her heart was beating incredibly fast and she could hardly breathe. She had laid her heart out in the open and he wasn't doing anything but staring at her. "Well! Say something!"

Looking into her eyes, he couldn't think of anything to say. Seeing the hurt forming in her eyes, he answered her the only way he could at the moment. Keith's body moved quickly, causing Allura to let out a startled, "Oh!" as his weight pinned her to the damp ground. Taking one last look in her eyes, and seeing nothing to stop him, his mouth claimed hers. Lance often accused him of thinking too much, so this time he didn't; he went with his feelings.

When Keith had pinned her to the ground, she had been startled. She was just getting ready to get up in frustration when it happened. Allura had seen the hesitation in his eyes as he lay on top of her, but then he seemed to realize that she wasn't resisting and began kissing her. Lost in the sensation and feelings of his body pressing against hers and the feel of his mouth on hers and then on her neck, she moaned. The pleasurable sensations abruptly stopped and her body felt cool indicating that he had sat up.

Breathing heavily, Keith sat with his eyes closed. He had been caught up in the moment, in the feel of her soft body responding to his. As he was trailing kisses down her neck, she moaned and it had brought him to his senses. Keith ran a hand through his hair and spared a quick look to the still supine figure of Allura. _What was she thinking?_

Even though her eyes were barely cracked, Allura had seen the nervous gesture that Keith made and his quick glance at her. She knew that the intense kiss had probably surprised him more than it had her. If she wanted to have more moments like this with him, and indeed she wanted a lot more moments like these, she needed to assure him now. Rolling to her side to face him, she spoke. "Keith."

Drawing a breath, he looked down at her as she lay propped on one arm. Her arm extended up toward him and he lay on his side, mirroring her position. Looking into her eyes, he said, "I hope you didn't mind that." From her physical response he knew that she hadn't minded, but he needed to hear it.

A huge grin broke across Allura's face as she changed her position and pinned him to the ground. They were both smiling as she leaned down to claim his lips. When she broke for a breath, she said, "I think you can safely assume that I didn't mind that all." She took her fingers and brushed his dark hair back off his forehead. "I've waited sooooo long to be able to do that."

Keith reached up to tuck an errant curl behind her ear. "I've waited just as long to do that." Feeling slightly goofy as he gazed up at her, he pulled her down for another kiss. When he felt his control slipping, he pushed her away slightly and sat up.

They sat side by side, facing each other with their legs touching. Allura knew he had stopped kissing her for a reason and she was willing to wait for him to answer.

Keith picked a blade of grass and ran it between his fingers. "This is moving pretty fast." He stopped when he heard Allura make a snorting sound. Smiling at her he qualified, "Well, now that it's moving, it's moving pretty fast."

"I'll agree to _that_ statement." Allura saw him smile but she sensed he was getting nervous.

Keith looked down, "I know we both have feelings for each other, but…."

A worried look appeared on Allura's face, "But what, Keith?"

Still playing with the blade of grass, but looking her in the eyes, he responded. "You haven't had many boyfriends. Hell, you probably haven't had any and you probably haven't ever kissed like that. I don't want to take advantage of you." Keith saw he had her full attention. "I'm the leader of the team that resurrected Voltron." Looking around at the beauty of the place they were in, he said, "Voltron has made this place whole again." He looked down at the blade of grass and threw it to the side and took her hands in his. "Your feelings for me may be because of what I've done for your planet. And as much as I…" His eyes dropped to their hands and then back to her eyes, "As much as I care about you, I won't let you throw your life away on a crush."

Pulling a hand from his, she reached up to touch his face. "I figured you might think such things. It's the kind of man you are. I will wait as long as it takes to convince you that my feelings are real and not some crush of a lonely, boy-crazed girl." Keith hadn't surprised her. She had been trying for months to figure out reasons he might hide his feelings and these were some reasons she had come up with herself. And, to give him credit, they did make sense. He was wrong, of course; she knew her own mind and feelings.

Keith looked at her in surprise and confusion and took her hand that was touching his face. "You're not upset at me?" He saw her smile and shake her head. Letting out the breath he was holding, he said, "I'm glad. I just want to take things slow."

"I'll take things as slow as you want. I'm not going anywhere." The conversation was going well as far as Allura was concerned. "It's probably best to go slow anyway because of Coran and Nanny." She started laughing as she saw a look of horror come over Keith's face when she mentioned Nanny's name. "Oh, come on, she'll come around!"

Keith smiled ruefully as he shook his head. "She'll come around by taking a frying pan to my head. _That's_ how she'll come around!" He laughed as he said it, but he felt it wasn't far from the truth. Nanny had her own plans for the princess and a GA commander wasn't in those plans. Plus, Nanny knew about Allura rescuing him from Merla. Nanny had practically pulled Allura from the shuttle when they returned. Even though Keith had been fully clothed in the shuttle, Nanny had tried to put her hands over Allura's eyes. Nanny had talked about unseemly behavior and proper attire around a princess. He smiled thinking about it. Looking at Allura he said, "You should tell Nanny to plan a ball."

"What?! Are you crazy? It will send her into wedding overload if I tell her I want to have another ball. You know that she'll be parading every eligible prince in front of me and telling me all the things they have to offer Arus." Laughter had been in her voice when she said it, but now she saw that Keith was serious. "You want me to meet those princes, don't you?"

Standing up, Keith reached down and pulled Allura up into his arms. "I don't want you to. I think you need to. You need to see all your options and not just go with the first semi-eligible bachelor that wants to be with you."

Allura wrapped her arms around him and smiled. "Well, actually, you would be the second. I think Lotor was the first."

Laughing at her, he responded, "I said 'semi-eligible.' Lotor is neither eligible nor even semi-eligible. He doesn't even count!"

"Okay. Lotor doesn't count." With a sigh escaping her lips, she replied, "Okay. I'll mention it to Nanny. But don't blame me when she makes you dress up for the ball."

As she laid her head on his chest, Keith gazed out over the idyllic scene before him. The ball would be torture for him. What if she did find some eligible prince to love? Squeezing her tight, he thought about having to watch her fall in love with another man. It was going to kill him, but he had to know that she had looked at other options and still found it in her heart to love him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

**A/N:** Still fluffy but a hint is given of what is to come...

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Setting Black's control to auto-pilot, Keith leaned back to think over the last crazy week. He was flying Black as escort to the princess' shuttle and her entourage. Besides himself and the princess, the party included a maid to help Allura and four security officers, one of whom was piloting the shuttle although Allura could have done it herself.

The team knew something was up between the princess and the commander, but they never teased their friends in front of anyone but each other. They all knew that the relationship would meet with mixed reactions and if Keith and Allura didn't want to share it with the world yet, then they would honor that. Keith could handle the gentle teasing and he knew that Allura actually liked it although she would deny it. It had therefore surprised the team when just two days ago, Allura suggested a ball. The team had actually sat around the dinner table with their mouths open. Nanny had practically danced around the table with that announcement and didn't notice the open mouths. Surprising them further, Keith had casually said that he would be happy to take care of the security precautions. Keith smiled about it now. It had taken some explaining to the team in the rec room and they had thought him crazy to have suggested the ball. It would be two months before they would hold the ball, and he wouldn't worry about it until they returned from this trip.

Taralono was two days journey for the shuttle. The Lion could make it in half that time but taking the entourage in the Lions wasn't something they did. It wasn't even feasible for a trip like this as Nanny had packed an extensive wardrobe for the princess even though they were only going to be there for three days. He would be spending days alone with the princess. His body warmed slightly and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. They wouldn't be alone of course, but it would be nice not to be under scrutiny during their off-time on the planet.

Pulling up the research he had done on Taralono and its primary moon, Armor, Keith sat back to refresh himself.

Over on the shuttle, Allura listened to Molly prattle away about the beautiful evening dresses that Nanny had packed. Glancing out the side viewport, she caught sight of Black and wished she could be in her own Lion or even riding with Keith. Coran had ruled out having two Lions off the planet on the trip, and Nanny had sternly shot down the idea of Allura riding with Keith. The thought of Allura riding unchaperoned for two days with the commander had almost caused Nanny to hyperventilate. Her thought processes were brought back to the present as Molly was asking a question. "What?"

"Your Highness, which dress do you want to wear to dinner on the day of your arrival? I think the royal blue one will set off your eyes nicely and it will look lovely with the commander's dress uniform."

Allura's full attention was now on her maid. "Did you say something about the commander's dress uniform?"

"Why yes, Princess, Nanny had me pack it. She checked the commander's closet and discovered that he hadn't packed it and she knew that he would need it for the formal dinners. She instructed me to inform you that he would need to wear it. Nanny said that you could get him to wear it." Molly's curls were bouncing as she spoke and she barely took a breath.

A smile formed on Allura's lips. "Yes, I believe that I can get Keith to wear the uniform." She then sat back and began daydreaming about Keith in his dress uniform while Molly continued to discuss dresses and the itinerary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Walking through the hanger, Keith looked around the facility. There wasn't a lot of information available about this area of the city and he walked quickly, not liking that Allura was out of his sight. After he landed, all he got was a point in the correct direction. There. He saw the group waiting for him at the elevated sidewalk that would take them to the train.

Listening diplomatically to the Taralono representative, she scanned the area looking for Keith. Allura spotted him just as he broke into a jog toward the group. Laughing to herself, she thought how the Taralonans had just made the future prince-consort of Arus jog through a shuttle hanger. Of course, they could have no idea. Keith actually didn't have that idea either, but she did. She wanted to take his hand as he slowed and walked to stand behind her, but this was neither the time nor the place. Unfortunately.

The train took them through a city that had little in the way of greenery but a lot in the way of concrete and cement. This was a highly industrialized city and park and greenery had little to do with commerce. Allura gazed through the windows of the train as she stood next to Keith. The diplomat had moved away to radio their ETA to the premier's mansion.

Leaning in to whisper in her ear, Keith said, "From my research, this type of city is the norm on Taralono with most of the population living near the cities." He paused for a moment, "I like the grassy hillside you took me to on Arus a lot better than this."

Liking the feel of his breath on her ear, she responded, "I'm glad, Commander, because I expect you to be on Arus a very, very long time." She saw his reflection in the glass smile back at her.

The train slowed, and soon the diplomat was shepherding them off the train into the premier's mansion. His name was Lar and he was talking non-stop about the schedule of events as they approached a crystal elevator. As they were boarding the elevator, Lar stuck out his hand and placed it on Keith's chest, stopping him from entering the elevator. It was comical in a way as Keith was two feet taller than Lar. All Taralonans were about two feet shorter than Terrans and Arusians, so even Allura was a foot taller than most. Therefore, seeing Lar with his short stature placing a restraining hand on the tall, athletic, military commander caused Allura to smile. However, Keith didn't find anything funny about it.

Looking at the hand on his chest, he eyes traveled to Lar's face. "Is there some problem Lar?"

"None at all, Commander. Servants will take the next elevator. Only royalty and diplomats will be in this car." It was said without heat or malice.

Stepping forward and placing a hand on Lar's shoulder, Allura said, "Lar, Commander Kogane is not a servant. He is the leader of the Arusian military as well as my personal bodyguard on this trip. You should have had this information in your diplomatic plan."

Appearing slightly flustered, Lar dropped his hand. "Yes, well, it was in the diplomatic debriefing, we just didn't think that a pilot would…" Lar stopped here as he saw irritation on the beautiful princess' face. It wouldn't do to mess up things before they got started. It was imperative that they keep the princess and the commander here to complete the bargain they had made with Doom. "There is no problem, Princess Allura. Please board with us, Commander. We'll show you to your rooms and give you time to prepare for dinner."

Keith stepped into the elevator. The rest of the entourage from Arus would follow on another car. Their luggage would be brought up via the service elevators and since it went on an earlier train, it should be waiting in their rooms. Hopefully, the premier's people followed his direction about the room arrangements.

Keith was pleased when they were escorted to their rooms. They would be the only ones on this floor and his room adjoined Allura's on one side and the maid's room adjoined on the other side. The rest of the security detail were in rooms across the hall.

Running a security scanner over Allura's room, Keith found it to be secure, although he would do a thorough check by hand later. "The room is secure, Princess."

Allura turned to Lar and thanked him for the escort. Confirming the time that he would be back to collect her and the commander for dinner, he took his leave. Molly was busy unpacking Allura's gowns so they wouldn't wrinkle, so she felt comfortable turning to Keith to ask, "You have an adjoining room to mine? Did Coran and Nanny approve of that, Commander?" Personally, she found it exciting that they would be sleeping in such close proximity even thought nothing would happen.

"Actually, Coran requested it, and once it was explained, Nanny approved it completely." Keith was already checking the room out again but he caught Allura's gasp of surprise. "Yes, I know, I need to explain further." He ran his fingers down the side of the heavy window drape, checking for surveillance devices. "Your safety is paramount, Princess. Nanny may consider me a hooligan, but I'm a hooligan she knows. You are away from her wing of safety, and as much as she would try to deny it…" He stopped his room check to face her. "Nanny knows that I would protect you with my life."

Allura blushed at the intensity in his gaze. Of course, Molly would pick that moment to come back into the room.

"Your Highness, are you okay? You look flushed."

"It's nothing, Molly, I was just feeling a trifle warm. I should be fine once I take off this wrap." After giving her wrap to Molly, Allura saw that Keith had returned to checking her room. A touch of mischief came over Allura. "Molly, be sure to take out Commander Keith's dress uniform and press it. He may not have time to do so before dinner as he's finishing the security sweep of my room."

"Of course, Princess."

Keith stopped and stiffened at the words 'dress uniform' and then continued. With Nanny being a stickler for proper royal etiquette, he should have known that she would have sent it. Of course, if he was in dress uniform, that meant Allura would be dressed up too. If he had the chance to spend an evening with her without the scrutiny of Coran and Nanny, he would wear it every night. With that pleasant thought, he continued his sweep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. The irritating Taralonans belong to me I suppose...

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

**A/N:** Some fluff... but concerns arise...

Thank you for the reviews! Keep them coming!

* A shout out to FroofyB - Hang in there!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Molly had just finished Allura's hair when a knock came from the door that adjoined Keith's room. "Enter," Allura called.

"Oooooo, Commander, you look very handsome!" Molly gushed as Keith entered.

Glancing over her shoulder from her seat at the vanity, Allura saw Keith blush. "Yes, Commander, I think you will make an adequate escort for the evening." She heard Molly giggle.

"I'm glad my appearance meets with your approval, Princess," he said with a smile and a bow.

After one last glance in the mirror, Allura stood and moved over to the door to take Keith's arm. Just as she was placing her hand on his arm, there was a knock and Lar's animated voice came muffled through the door. "Time to go, Your Highness! I know you're going to love the meal tonight. We're having many of Taralono's delicacies!" When Keith opened the door, Lar was almost bouncing with excitement. Allura saw that he didn't spare a glance at Keith, who only grinned at her, unfazed by the diplomatic snub.

Dinner went without a hitch. The Taralonans had followed Allura's protocol and sat Keith beside her. Keith was going to be her sounding board for everything that was discussed and he had to be part of the primary discussion. Allura's conversation dealt with a lot of diplomatic topics related to alliances and trading. Listening to the discussions, Keith also looked at the body language of the dinner guests and listened for things left unsaid. He noticed a number of the guests spoke little and appeared nervous. Premier Horton was also vague about forming an alliance with Arus. Keith decided that a call to Pollux would be in order after this dinner.

The dinner ended a short while later and Premier Horton led Allura from the dining room to a larger open room, that was richly decorated and had some type of parquet flooring. There were some other guests there and the premier said he thought she might like to do a little dancing before retiring for the evening. At the word 'dancing,' a large group of male guests gathered around the princess. Looking somewhat alarmed, Allura's eyes went to Keith begging for help. Her diplomatic aplomb had left her.

Keith watched it all unfold in front of him as he had trailed a respectful distance behind Princess Allura and Premier Horton. His eyes crinkled with mirth as he watched the Taralonans flock around the princess. Allura had chosen to wear high heels with her gown and he bet she regretted that right now. With the natural height difference, and the added heel height, the male Taralonans were now at Allura's chest height. In a dance like a waltz, well, a grin broke across Keith's face.

Seeing the grin spread across his face, Allura was afraid that he wasn't going to help her. She breathed a sigh of relief when he spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Premier Horton, but Princess Allura should return to her room. We have a scheduled video call with Arus that we can't miss." Keith had wiped the smile off his face and delivered the statement matter of factly.

"I understand, Commander. I am sure that the trip was also very draining and we have an early start tomorrow. I'll escort you to the elevator and then leave you to your rest."

The premier sounded genuine in his comments Keith thought, but his gut was telling him that something was wrong. He could feel Allura's eyes on him in the elevator, but he didn't know if there were listening devices here so he wouldn't speak. As they entered Allura's room, Molly came in to assist the princess, but Keith asked her to give them a little more time as they made a call to Arus. Keith watched as Molly bobbed a curtsy and went back into her room. Stepping into his room for a moment, Keith returned with a device that emitted a slight hum and then went silent. He looked at Allura and simply said, "Audio dampening device just in case. We should be able to talk softly for a few minutes."

"First, thank you from saving me from dancing." Laughter brightened her face for a moment before turning serious. "What is it, Keith? I thought things were going well."

Sitting down across from her, he clasped his hands in front of him and looked her in the eyes. "I don't know. I just have a gut feeling. There was a lot of nervous energy in the dining hall and many of the guests wouldn't meet my eyes. The premier also avoided talking a formal alliance with Arus."

With a wry smile, Allura responded, "Keith, there are a lot of worlds that don't want to talk a formal alliance with Arus. We are a primary target of Doom and not many people want to get involved with that, even knowing we have Voltron."

Keith let out a breath as he stood and turned his back to her for the moment. "I know. I don't have any proof, but I plan on calling Pollux to see if they had a similar visit." He turned to the device as it let out a series of small beeps indicating the time was ending. "Okay, time to call Arus, we don't want to be late." They hadn't planned the call, but whoever was manning Castle Control would play along.

Allura walked over to join Keith in front of the vid screen. He requested a secure channel, but he wasn't sure how secure it was on this weapons and security obsessed planet. Seeing Lance answer the call, Keith said, "I'm sorry we are a few minutes late in calling, Lieutenant."

Lance didn't even bat an eye as he responded, "Not a problem this time, Commander, but don't make a habit of missing scheduled calls."

Normal conversation continued for about ten minutes and then Allura ended the call.

"Our day starts early tomorrow, Princess. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast." Keith bowed to her as Molly entered the room. A quick nod to Molly and then Keith left with the dampening device. After taking the time to change, Keith reactivated the dampening field. It worked for small amounts of time that wouldn't be noticeable to anyone monitoring the rooms. He would be routing a voice call through his com unit to Black. It was the only way for him to contact Pollux in a completely secure way without going back to Black himself. He would have done that but he didn't feel safe leaving Allura in the mansion.

"This is Sven, what is it, Keith?"

Keith gave a very quick description of their trip and indicated that he was on a time limit. "Did you find anything unusual on your trip here? Did they appear to be nervous?"

"No. They were all talkative and friendly. Be sure not to let Allura dance with any of them however."

Laughing, Keith said, "Yes, I've already had to save her from that. What did they say about allying with Pollux?"

"They refused outright but said that wouldn't alter their selling us weapons we needed."

"Hmmm. That's interesting as they haven't ruled out an alliance with Arus, but are straddling the fence. So, no bad gut feelings?"

Sven laughed. "Well, I wouldn't say that everything is above board or that there wasn't a touch of sliminess and condescension to the visit, but no, no bad gut feelings."

The device was beeping again. "Thanks, Sven. I've got to go. Will you relay our conversation to Lance? Tell him I'll check-in every six hours. If I don't, then he comes here immediately."

"Will do, Commander. Enjoy your vacation. Sven out."

The communication was cut, but Keith replied anyway. "Yeah, some vacation." Putting away everything, Keith prepared to have a restless night's sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The next morning dawned bright and clear, although the weather on Taralono wouldn't be of much concern. Today, they would be heading out right after breakfast to visit the weapons demonstration facility on the planetary moon called Armor. It was an apt name for a moon with its military function.

Allura and Keith sat together on the luxurious shuttle that was carrying them and the Taralono diplomats and salesmen. She wasn't sure what else to call them. The men had been talking non-stop about prices, quantities, shipping expenses, upgrades, and weapons' features since they had boarded the shuttle. Allura thought Keith was being amazingly calm, considering his concerns and the fact that he wasn't flying Black to Armor. After several quick glances in his direction, she decided he was busy studying their hosts. Before going to breakfast, Keith had tried to talk her into requesting that he fly her to the facility. She had refused the request because it had not been in the original plan given to Lar, and besides a gut feeling, there was nothing to prove there was a danger. After she had refused his request, he left her room and then returned a little late to escort her to breakfast. He had surprised her by wearing an Arusian military uniform. It fit him well, but she knew it wasn't his. Most likely his uniform change had something to do with his gut feeling, but they had had no time alone since he arrived to pick her up for breakfast. Allura was distracted from her musings by Premier Horton asking her a question. With one last glance at Keith, she returned to the conversation.

Keith had noticed Allura's glances and knew she was curious about his uniform change. He had decided not to push the issue of flying Black to Armor. Instead he had opted to ask one of the Arusian security detail to lend him a uniform and jacket. Keith hadn't tried to explain anything to Allura because that would have meant telling her about the extra weapons he was carrying, and that wasn't something he wanted to do in an unsecured location. Knowing there was a laser pistol in the back waistband of his pants and a throwing knife in each of his boots gave him extra comfort as he put a hand on the blaster that was strapped to his thigh. He still only had his gut feeling but it was getting stronger and the number of nervous glances had increased on the shuttle. Premier Horton and Lar seemed completely at ease however. If something was going on, they were unaware or they had planned it. Keith shifted uneasily in his seat at that thought.

The time for thoughts and musings ended as the shuttle landed and the group was led into the weapons' showcase facility. Their group included the premier, a weapons' specialist, Allura, Keith, and three of the Arusian security detail. Molly and one security officer had been left on Taralono. Before entering the first weapons' room, Premier Horton sent Lar off to make sure everything would be in order for their lunch later.

Keith tried to listen to the weapon descriptions as they moved from one room of armaments to another but he was distracted by the increasing number of glances now being sent his way. The other men in the security detail were picking up on it too, but unlike Keith, their growing unease was evident. Keith had conveyed the message before breakfast to take extra weapons s but he hadn't been able to talk to them. He was now afraid that their nerves might be a danger as well. Glancing ahead at Allura, he eyed her attire. As long as they were in the building and didn't have to run far, she would be okay. If they ended up outside, well, then they had a problem. Allura was wearing a gold colored pantsuit with some kind of heeled sandal. If they were hiding in a field of jonquils then she would have the perfect camouflage. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts. Allura could be right and everything would be fine; he just didn't believe it in his heart.

Several weapons had caught Allura's eye and she was looking forward to discussing them with Keith later. She hoped he had paid attention. He seemed at ease though she knew he wasn't, but the others in the security detail were obviously uneasy. They were used to protecting her on Arus and not on a diplomatic mission. When they returned to Arus, she would ask the team to begin training the Arusian security forces to better handle missions like this. Premier Horton took her elbow. They were entering the last room and this one would provide live demonstrations of weapons they had seen.

Upon entering the room, Keith moved to position himself behind Allura. He noticed the looks of concern that came his way. Weapons specialist Karn pressed a few buttons and the back wall of the room disappeared so they were looking out into a combination shooting range and obstacle course used to test weapons. Even with his concerns, Keith was impressed at the facility. Karn was pointing out the new hovering battle droid when Keith felt something was wrong. His hand dropped to his blaster but it was too late as the electrical current coursed through his body.

Allura hadn't realized anything was happening until the current hit her. Now she felt hands helping her sit up and she could hear conversation, although the ringing in her ears was pretty loud...

(Garbled speech) "she's undamaged" (garbled speech) "trouble if she's injured."

Allura was finally able to open her eyes and when she did she looked into the vivid green eyes of Lar. "What happened Lar? Is everyone okay?" Turning her head, she saw Horton was already on his feet with the other Taralonans. What made her eyes widen was seeing soldiers disarming the still incapacitated Arusian soldiers. Keith! Allura turned quickly in Lar's arms but he still held her as she saw Keith on his knees. His blaster had been taken but as far as she could tell, that was all that had been done to him. What was going on? She turned back to Lar and saw the figure of the premier behind him. A question was in her eyes.

"I know Commander Kogane expressed concern to you Allura. You should have heeded his warning. Doom has been sending military scout ships to our solar system and we knew it was only a matter of time before Lotor and Zarkon attacked. We were trying to think of a way to make an alliance with them when we thought of you. You just don't know how pleased we are that you accepted our invitation!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters.

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Pulling away from Lar and standing, Allura spat at him, "You are going to trade me to Lotor? You think that will keep him from attacking? You're crazy! He'll take me and then annihilate you."

Shrugging, Horton said, "It doesn't hurt us to try. It's not like Voltron could have gotten here in time to help us." The premier looked over her shoulder. "Besides, I have more to offer than just you."

She didn't need to turn around to know he meant Keith. Her fear must have shown on his face as a toothy grin spread over Horton' s visage.  
"Yes, Prince Lotor was very pleased when we told him that we would have both Princess Allura _and_ the Voltron commander." Horton' s eyes went back over her shoulder to Keith. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I don't think the Prince of Doom has anything pleasant in store for you." Returning his eyes to the princess who had paled at that comment, he continued. "Now, on to the rest of our plan. The facility's video footage will show us all getting shocked, and the droid unfortunately malfunctioned due to the electrical current. After all who will think that I shocked myself on purpose?" Horton began to laugh. "No one will know what really happened to you."

Lar and a soldier armed with a baton type weapon she didn't recognize stood behind her. A soldier with a similar weapon stood behind Keith but the soldier behind the other Arusians held a blaster. Allura looked back to Horton as he waved his hand.

"Okay, Karn, fire."

Allura gasped as Horton gave the order to activate the battle droid and two of the Arusian soldiers fell to the ground. The droid had fired precise laser bolts at them. She knew they were dead.

"No!" Keith cried out as Esha and Kip fell to the floor. He had started to rise but the soldier behind him used the baton to deliver an electrical shock that dropped Keith to his hands and knees. Staring at the mottled gray and brown concrete floor, he waited for his muscles to stop twitching before he sat back on his knees and looked at the men lying on the floor dead. They had been his friends and now they were gone. He gave an apprehensive glance to Bart, the remaining Arusian security guard.

Walking over to stand in front of Keith, Horton placed his hands on his ample hips and said, "You're way too valuable to kill, Commander… well, unless you cause too much trouble." Turning his glance to Bart, he commanded, "Stand up!"

Bart glanced at Keith before he stood.

It wasn't Horton that spoke but Lar. "Run, soldier. Run very fast." When Bart didn't move immediately, Lar yelled, "I said run or we'll shoot you were you stand!"

After looking at Keith one last time, Bart took off toward the trees at the end of the range. The battle droid hesitated only a moment before following. Bart was able to make a few evasive moves, but with no weapons, it was only a matter of time. This time, the droid fired some type of beam that enveloped his whole body. In a matter of seconds, Bart's body fell to the ground as a fine ash.

Keith could hear Allura crying as he lowered his head to say a quick prayer for Bart's family back on Arus. When he raised his head, he saw that the princess had dropped to the floor with her hands over her eyes. She couldn't do this, he needed her to be strong if they were going to have any chance at escape. Time, she needed a little time. Turning his gaze to Horton, he asked, "You're not going to have enough bodies."

"You're right, Commander, I need to remedy that." With another wave of his hand, the door they had entered opened and a man and a woman came in. They looked like they could be from Arus or Earth. Horton watched as a look of horror came across the commander's face. "That's right, Commander Kogane. I think you've figure it out."

The couple was herded over to a corner of the room and with the snap of his fingers, the droid fired the enveloping beam and the man and woman were reduced to ashes. Keith realized it would probably take weeks before an analysis of the remains could be conducted to determine that they didn't belong to them. He could be dead or maimed by that time, and Allura, well, he didn't want to think about that. Moving his gaze from the pile of ash to the princess, he saw that she had stood. Their eyes locked and he knew she was ready to act. He gave a barely perceptible nod of his head.

Allura pushed Lar so that he tripped and fell and then she moved to stand in front of Horton screaming about what he had done and waving her arms about. Every eye turned to her and a guard with a baton moved closer to her.

It was all Keith needed. Pulling the laser pistol from his back waistband he shot the two guards with blasters and then rolled to his back to take out the two guards with batons, leaving only Horton, Lar, and Karn standing in the room. Karn and Lar stood with mouths agape as they watched the commander rise from the floor with his pistol still trained on them. Keith called out to Allura, "Go get the blaster off of that guard, we don't have much time." At the sound of Horton's laughter, Keith focused an angry gaze on him.

"Well done, Commander! My staff underestimated you. They had thought your military talents had been inflated, but it is obvious that they don't do you justice. Unfortunately, I have already pressed an alert button and my soldiers will be here soon." An evil grin appeared on Horton's face.

Keith didn't hesitate as he fired the laser pistol and downed each of them and then changed the setting on the pistol and blasted the door lock. Turning quickly, he gathered his blaster from where it had been thrown and holstered it and then ran over to a display casing looking in it frantically. Finding what he wanted, he broke into the cabinet and pulled out a bracelet. "Damn it, there's only one of them."

Allura turned to him and said, "One what?" Her gaze returned to the fallen premier and his staff. "Are they dead?" It came out as a whisper.

Not bothering to glance at the downed Taralonans, he replied kurtly, "No." Immediately realizing his tone had sounded harsh, he softened it as he worked to put the bracelet on her wrist. "The pistol had been set to stun, but I have to say, I wouldn't have regretted a higher setting." Finally, the matte black metal bracelet snapped on Allura's wrist and a light began blinking. For just a brief moment, like a flash, a light enveloped Allura and then was gone.

"What?" The question was hardly formed when Keith took her by the arm and the flash covered him and was gone.

"We've got to hurry, there's no time to explain right now. They could send a pulse through this room at any moment." He saw understanding in Allura's eyes and so he continued, glad that he wouldn't have an argument. Their lives could depend on the next fifteen minutes. "The terrain is uneven out there. I'm going to carry you to the tree line. No arguing." He didn't wait for her acknowledgement but turned and bent down so that she could jump on his back. He was pleased that she didn't hesitate. As soon as her arms and legs were locked around him he began his part jog, part run across the range carrying them from the danger behind them and into the unknown in front of them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Allura was amazed at the speed at which Keith had been able to carry her across the range. They had just entered the tree line when he stopped and she slid to the ground, still holding the blaster she had picked up. Looking down at her yellow clothing and heels, she frowned and looked to Keith.

"When we get further in, we'll try to find some mud and darken your clothing. We have to stay hidden until the team can get here." Keeping her hand in his, he looked into the forested area. It was fairly warm but not quite tropical. "I studied a map of Armor before coming here; there are a number of thermal features and streams around. According to what I read, they'll give us with drinkable water and the heat will mask our thermal signatures." He started walking and Allura followed.

"Should I take off my sandals?"

Keith kept moving along a path through the trees. "No, keep them on for now. If they start slowing you down, then you can take them. They'll at least protect the bottom of your feet." Tossing a look over his shoulder, he said, "We'll need to keep moving until we reach the hot springs." Keith halted his conversation here and stopped their forward progress for a moment. He held their joined hands up between them. "We also have to stay in physical contact. The bracelet that I put on you projects a dampening field, disguising the wearer's thermal signature. There was only one bracelet. As long as we stay in physical contact, it covers us both. If we break contact, my thermal signature will be visible. That's why we have to get to the hot springs. The dampening field is using more energy by covering us both, so we can conserve the power source by locating the springs."

Looking him in the eye, Allura said, "What are we waiting for?"

With a nod, Keith started back along the path but soon ventured off saying, "From what I remember, there should be some thermal features in this direction. They were in a hilly area with rocky terrain as well as forest, so we may be in for a little climbing."

Saying nothing, Allura continued to regret her choice of footwear. In addition to the predicament they were in, the loss of the Arusian guards was weighing heavily on her. If only she had listened to Keith's warning.

They had been moving at a fairly quick pace for about an hour when the terrain became hilly enough that Allura's shoes were more of a hindrance than a help. Making sure to keep in contact, she removed the shoes and Keith threaded them through his belt so that they hung around his waist. Looking at Allura, he said, "We can't leave them as evidence, and perhaps you can use them later. Just be careful where you step. We can move more slowly if we need to."

Shaking her head in an emphatic "no," Allura responded, "We can't slow down, they have to be looking for us by now. I promise, I'll let you know if I need to slow down or need a break, but for now, let's keep moving at this pace." She could tell by the look in Keith's eyes, that he was please at her answer and then he turned and led her up the hillside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Keith and Allura would have been surprised to learn that an extensive search had not yet begun for them.

Premier Horton regained consciousness on a conference table in the weapons facility. A medical unit had not been placed on Armor, which was a little odd, considering how many injuries could occur at a weapons facility. Horton thought he would remedy this oversight soon, that is, if Lotor let him live. Placing a hand to his throbbing head, he called out, "What's going on? Where are Commander Kogane and Princess Allura?" A soldier came over and helped him sit up on the side of the table. He gazed around the room and saw Lar still unconscious, slumped in a chair and Karn sitting with his head in hands. Karn was probably just coming out of it as he was. Turning to the soldier he said, "Well?"

"Premier, after the electrical pulse, it took us awhile to enter the room because of the fused lock. When we entered, we found all of the Taralonans unconscious from the pulse and the Arusian party all appeared to be dead. There were two bodies of dead Arusian soldiers, and then we found the ash remains of what appears to be the third soldier plus the ashes of Commander Kogane and Princess Allura."

Horton groaned. Only the people in that room plus a couple on Taralono had known of the plan. The plan had fooled people, just as he wanted, but unfortunately, it had fooled the wrong people. Thinking quickly, he ordered the soldier to bring the command staff to the room. It was time to let more people in on the plan. Lotor would be here in less than two days. The prince was often short-fused on a good day. To learn that Horton had 'misplaced' the princess would not improve his mood.

In less than ten minutes, the top ranking officers were in the room. Karn had come to enough to participate in the discussion but Lar was just coming out of the shock. Having been stunned by the commander, and then a stronger pulse from the facility, had caused them a longer recovery time than before. The commander and the princess had been gone for almost an hour now.

Horton and Karn told them the situation with Doom and the extreme need to recover both the commander and Princess Allura alive. Karn asked the soldiers, "Can you tell me about any missing weapons?"

General Tolar answered, "One blaster and a dampening bracelet. We thought the blaster had been vaporized, but we didn't know why the case displaying the bracelet had been broken into. It all makes sense now. We ran a sweep of the area but detected no life forms other than the forest animals."

Karn turned to Horton, "The bracelet is made for one person, they will have to stay in physical contact or one of them will be visible. I estimate that the power source will only be able to maintain coverage for two people continuously for fourteen hours. With or without the bracelet, we'll have them before lunch tomorrow."

"They are resourceful however, so let's keep the pressure on them General and start combing the forest. Perhaps we'll find them before the power source runs out." Horton paused here, before saying, "General, if your men find one of them, use the one you find to ferret out the other." Seeing the inquisitive look on the general's face he explained, "In the demo room, Princess Allura was very concerned over the commander's well-being. I believe that she's in love with him. And what feelings the commander has, I don't know, he was more guarded, but he is sworn to protect her with his life."

"That is very valuable information, Premier. All we need to do is to capture one of them." The general was smiling and nodding in understanding. "We will start immediately sir."

Horton's eyes narrowed as he smiled at the backs of the soldiers leaving the room. He had always thought that Terrans and Arusians were too soft emotionally. It would work in his benefit this time. He was sure of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

An hour later and they were at the hot springs. They had found a small stream about thirty minutes earlier and when Keith had tested the water temperature with his hand, he had found it warm. Following the stream had led them to this thermal area. They had walked around finding numerous bubbling mudpots, fumeroles, and one hot spring that flowed into the stream. Looking around in satisfaction, Keith pressed some buttons on the bracelet and a flash followed. Dropping her hand, he said, "There's plenty of thermal activity here to disguise both of our thermal signatures." Looking towards a mudpot, he said, "Let's see about getting some mud from the edge of the mud pot or the stream to darken your outfit." With that he headed to the stream to splash some water on his heated face.

Allura had heard his voice, but she didn't really hear what he had said. When he had dropped her hand, she had been surprised at how much she missed holding his. She had never held his hand for so long or felt so protected by him. She sighed a little as she walked towards the stream bank. He wasn't thinking romantically right now and rightfully so. She shouldn't be either, and with that, the thoughts of Esha, Kip, and Bart came back to her. Sitting down at the edge of the stream she placed her tired feet in the water and reached in the mud along the bank to start painting her yellow pants a reddish brown. "Keith?"

"Huh?" Keith stopped splashing water on his face. "What is it, Allura?"

"I was just thinking about Esha, Bart, and Kip." She stopped rubbing the mud on her pants and swirled her hand in the water watching the mud wash off.

Shaking the water from his hands, Keith moved over to sit next to the princess. He only hesitated a moment before putting an arm around her and pulling her into an embrace. As soon as his arms encircled her, she began to sob.

"Oh, Keith! If only I had listened to you! Maybe they would still be alive."

Gently rubbing her back, he said, "No, Allura, don't do this to yourself. We came here to help Arus and there is nothing wrong with that."

"But if I had listened to you…"

"I never said for us to leave. I only wanted to bring Black here to the moon. That wouldn't have stopped what happened in the demo room. If anyone is to blame, it would be me."

Pulling back to look at Keith with tears still spilling down her face, Allura said, "No, Keith, you can't blame yourself for something you didn't know about. You tried to find out information from Sven and alerted Castle Control to your concern. There was nothing more that you could have done."

Wiping a tear from her face, he smiled sadly, "Exactly."

Understanding his meaning, she hugged him tightly, pressing her face into his chest.

"Allura, those men knew the risks when they agreed to be your bodyguards on this mission. I know it doesn't make their deaths easier and friends dying shouldn't be easy." Moving a hand so that he could tilt her face up to his, he softly said, "I know the risks as well. Whatever happens, don't blame yourself." Seeing the fear that entered her eyes, he continued, "I'm not saying that something bad will happen, but we are in a situation where we can both be captured." Looking away from her and closing his eyes, he said, "Don't let Lotor use me to get to you. Whatever… happens, don't give in to him. I'd rather die."

This time, it was Allura who pulled Keith's face back to hers. "I would rather you not. I'll do what I feel is necessary to keep us both safe, Keith." Seeing that he was going to start into an argument, she pulled his mouth to hers. In a moment he had her lying on the muddy bank, kissing her with abandon.

A few minutes later he pulled away, breathing heavily. Keith ran a hand through his hair which had become slightly wet and stringy from sweat and the water from the stream. "That was a good way to distract me from what you said. I don't agree with you, but I won't argue the point right now." He didn't look at her as he shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the bank. "Finish with the mud and I'll look around for some edible plants. Then we'll look at the stream to see if fishing is an option."

Allura watched him walk away and smiled. He would do anything to protect her; he just didn't want her to do anything to protect him. So very much like most of the men in her life. Frowning as she continued with the mud application, she thought, _"I'll do what I have to, to protect him from Lotor."_

Keith looked back to Allura sitting on the bank. He didn't like that look she gave him. Taking a beating and torture would be painful, but he'd gladly go through it to protect her. If Lotor tortured him in front of her… Keith closed his eyes, he knew she would give herself to that scum to stop it. He opened his eyes to look at the berry bush in front of him, berries were always dangerous unless you were certain. He wasn't certain so instead he started digging at the nearby ground where some large plants were growing. He specifically remembered reading that their edible roots were considered a delicacy when cooked, but were still edible raw. Cooking wasn't going to be an option for them, but the roots would fill their stomachs. He was estimating that an hour from now, Lance would expect a check-in from him. He had already made a couple of check-ins, but on open channels, he couldn't say much. However, Lance wouldn't delay after getting the message from Sven. If they were ready to leave, someone in a Lion could be here in twenty-four hours. They had to hold out that long. The question in his mind was, when would Lotor arrive?


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

It was now early evening. They had dined on water and edible roots for their late lunch. Allura could only say that they were filling. The root flavor had been 'okay,' tasting somewhat like an earth sweet potato, but it was hard to bite through and then after you did bite through it, it became very chewy. Her jaws ached from the chore and she really hoped Keith didn't suggest them for supper. She'd rather skip supper and eat them again in the morning when her jaw was relaxed. The roots were about their only current food option as the streams had been devoid of any kind of aquatic life and Keith didn't want to venture out into the woods leaving her alone. So they had been sitting for part of the day at the edge of the thermal features where they had shade cover from some trees but were still close to the thermal area. They did scout out the area looking for any place where they could hide. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that would be good for the two of them, but Keith did find a narrow opening in a rock face that Allura could squeeze behind. It would be uncomfortable and warm as the rock was heated by the thermal features, but that would make it even better to camouflage her. Keith had been very pleased with the space but Allura had not. She knew that using that space would mean that Keith would be exposed and at risk and he would never take the bracelet.

Keith stood and stretched as the inactivity had caused him to stiffen. Looking down at Allura, he said, "I'm going to get some water, do you want to come?" He reached down to take the hand that she had extended up to him. Pulling her to him, he wanted to plant a quick kiss on her lips. They were in a stressful and tense situation and since he was trying to get her to take an honest, objective look at their relationship, he really needed to step back in this situation. After all they had already shared a passionate kiss on the bank of the stream. He smiled a little as they walked hand in hand to the stream even though they didn't need to.

Six hours. That's how long they been on the run. Three hours. That's the amount since he should have checked in with Lance. One or more Lions should be on their way. They would be pushing at maximum velocity. They might be here in twenty-four hours, but they would still have to find them… and the diplomats were sure to use that defective weapons room as an excuse. Hopefully the team would try to find them by using their bio-signatures instead of checking in with the facility. He sure hoped he hadn't led the team into a new trap. Horton might try to take the rest of the team captive if he didn't have himself and Allura. Feeling a tug on his hand, he looked down into the concerned eyes of the Princess.

Watching his smile turn into a scowl, Allura knew that he was concerned about something new. After pulling on his hand to get his attention, she asked, "What is it, Keith?"

Keith saw she wasn't surprised and was actually a bit annoyed when he answered, "Nothing." Squatting down to the clear running stream and trailing his fingers through the water, he added, "I'm just thinking about staying concealed for the next twenty-one hours."

Joining him down on the bank, Allura scooped up the water and took a drink. "Are you concerned about the bracelet's power source?" At this she got a genuine smile from Keith.

Swallowing his water, Keith turned to give Allura a big smile. "Not really. I think we'll be good on the power source if we can stay here at the hot spot for awhile. It probably won't last until the team arrives, but I'm sure that we'll make it last a lot longer than they think it will. Horton said they underestimated me before. It seems that they may have done so again." He was still smiling. The team and others liked to joke about his thoroughness, but it had paid off on this mission.

Allura couldn't help but smile back. The Taralonans had underestimated him but then so had she. Keith was always checking things out, reading up on things, going the extra mile. His ability to get her miles across the lunar terrain and then keep them hidden for hours was incredible.

His smile faltered somewhat as he said, "I just don't know how long it will be before they realize their error. I can't imagine it being much longer." He stopped here to look up at the sky. "I think we have about two more hours of light. I'd like for us to scout ahead a little. If we are flushed out, I don't want to run into the woods with no idea where we are going."

"I'm ready, Commander."

Helping her stand, he activated the bracelet and they set off into the forest hand in hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the weapons facility, Horton was livid with those in command of the search. He brought his fist down heavily on the table before him. "I don't understand the problem! It's been over six hours and you can't find two people? They can't have gone far. One of them was wearing yellow and high heels!" General Tolar cringed a little at the vehemence in the premier's voice. "We underestimated Commander Kogane before and I'm certain you've done it again. Tell me, if you were trying to hide near this facility, what would you do?"

"For someone without knowledge of the area, I would-"

Horton's fist slammed down again. "_STOP!_ What if the commander has knowledge of Armor? Did you think about that? I asked where _YOU_ would go."

"I'd go to one of the thermal features that would mask my body heat and also provide a possible source of water."

There was still anger in the premier's voice as he asked, "Now tell me, have you thoroughly scouted out all the thermal areas?"

The general shifted from one foot to another as he replied. "We have done a fly-over of the surrounding areas, but no detailed surveillance of the thermal areas although our search parties that are on foot are nearing several of the features." Pausing here, he continued nervously, "We will have to stop the search until dawn so that we don't miss anything in the dark. With the dampening bracelet, they could skirt around us in the darkness."

"Just know this, General, Prince Lotor has indicated that he expects us to deliver Princess Allura and Commander Kogane to our rendezvous point the day after tomorrow. If you haven't brought them back here by then, I'll make sure that you suffer the same fate as I. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely, Premier."

"One last question and then I want you to put your FULL energies into this search. Has Arus made any attempt to contact the Arusian party or our headquarters?"

The general was more comfortable answering this question. "No, sir. The remaining Arusian guard on Taralono has inquired about the party. We have told him that there was an accident and that it is too dangerous for him to come here and that we will report to him later tonight on the situation status."

Nodding his head, Horton said, "Follow the plan and make sure that he doesn't see any of our search party efforts. We'll also contact Arus tonight to let them know of the tragic accident that claimed the princess and the commander. I'd be happier doing this with them in custody. I'm sure that Arus will send more of the Voltron Force, and that will be a hassle as they are sure to be on-guard."

"Why don't we just capture them too and give them to Lotor?" General Tolar sounded perplexed.

"I don't need to explain to you. Just know there is a reason." Horton turned his back on Tolar, indicating that the conversation was closed. Horton couldn't explain to Tolar because he hadn't really figured out what he was going to do. The plan had been simple until the commander had ruined it. If the ruse they had planned didn't fool the Arusians and the Voltron Force, then they were going to blame it on a conspiracy by Doom. The number of persons who knew the plan had been small, now, there was approximately one hundred military personnel with some knowledge about what was going on. There would be no hiding it now. However, he wasn't prepared to take the step of attacking all of the Voltron Force. The Alliance may come after them already, but if they attacked and/or captured the whole Force? The Alliance would have to come. Plus, the Voltron Force would try to rescue the commander and princess which distract Lotor from Taralono. His eyes narrowed as he thought of the trouble that Kogane had caused. When they captured him, he would enjoy using a variety of their electrical shock weapons on him. He had promised Lotor the commander would be alive and relatively unharmed. He took solace in the fact that Lotor was sure to make him writhe in agony.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Keith and Allura looked out over the undulating yellow and blue grass that stretched for miles. Standing atop a fifty foot cliff, it was obvious that this route would not be an escape for them. It would have been a beautiful sight with the rays of the setting sun making the colors glow as the grass billowed in the breeze. Looking up at Keith, Allura saw his hair was behaving like the grass by moving all around his face. She saw that he wasn't taking any note of the tendrils that snaked across his face.

Keith gazed intently across the open expanse. Climbing down the cliff wasn't an option while they had to hold hands and even if they weren't, Allura wasn't trained to do it. The tall grass would only show the path they took and provide little cover. Turning to Allura, he only said, "We'll search to the right tomorrow, let's head back." Still lost in thought, Keith headed them back towards the thermal feature. His mind called up the map of Armor; he believed that he had a firm grasp on where they were. Unfortunately, the mental image of the map told him that they didn't have much choice on where to go. They would head out to the right tomorrow. It contained a lot in the way of cover, but the thermal features were miles away in that direction. There were thermal features to the left, but that way led to hilly terrain that had little cover. He was brought out of his reflection by Allura's voice.

"Keith? You've been awfully quiet. Is something wrong?"

Stopping them, he said, "Allura, we don't have a lot of options in where we can go. I think our time at the hot spring has come to an end, at least until they have determined that we are somewhere else. I'm sure they'll be going to all the thermal features tomorrow. We need to head out before the dawn. If we don't find a good spot, we can circle back to the hot spot once it's been searched."

She saw the intensity in his look and his words, even though they were in the gathering shadows of the forest. What could she say? "I understand. We'll be on the move tomorrow."

Cupping her face in his hand for a moment, he looked into her eyes. His eyes conveyed what he didn't want to speak. Tomorrow he would do what he needed to keep her safe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Allura felt a hand shaking her from sleep. Opening her eyes, she looked at Keith in the dim pre-dawn light and remembered the treachery of yesterday. They spoke little as they drank from the stream and Keith handed her a root to eat. He put a couple of the roots in his pocket for later, not knowing what food food would be available. Shortly after, he activated the bracelet and they set out in the direction that Keith had determined yesterday.

The terrain through the forested area was relatively flat and easy to navigate. Keith kept them moving for about an hour before they found a stream and carefully drank from it making sure to maintain body contact. Looking around, Keith didn't see anywhere to hide Allura. Now that they had left the hot spot, he was searching for a new place to keep her safe. He had lost his surety that the bracelet would hold out until the team arrived. Finding a place where she would be safe while he led the search party off was his primary goal but it wouldn't be the hardest thing he had to do. Convincing her to hide alone while he was a target, that would be his hardest task. The dawn light was just beginning to break through the trees when he pulled her up to continue. "Are you ready to go, Princess?" He was hoping that they would arrive at the only mountain in the area within an hour or two.

"Lead on, Commander." The phrase may have been joking but her tone was serious. They had a lot of hours to dodge and evade before the team would be here.

An hour later after trekking through the monotonous green of the forest they came upon the small foothills leading to the mountain. Glimpses of the towering peak could be seen through the canopy every once in awhile.

"Are we going up the mountain, Keith?" She asked the question even though she knew the answer. His quietness was concerning her and she just wanted to hear his voice.

Glancing at her and back up at the mountain, he nodded and said, "I'm hoping to find a small cave or perhaps a cleft in the rock face. It's not going to be easy going up the mountain holding hands and you'll definitely need to take off those heels." Looking back at her he said, "I was thinking about circling back around to our hot spot. We would have to be extremely careful as we may run into a search party. But if we were able to get there AFTER they had searched it, then they may not come back to that area for hours." Seeing the serious look on her face, he decided to see what her opinion on the matter was. "What do you think, Princess? Mountain or circle back?"

Pleased that he had asked her opinion, she took a moment to think it through. "I say we try the mountain first and give the searchers a chance to clear out. However, if the climb becomes steep we go ahead and switch to the hot spot. I don't think that trying a risky climb and breaking your connection to the dampening field would be worth. If that happened, we'd be on a mountain that's hard to climb and no hiding place."

Smiling at her with a pleased expression, Keith responded, "I agree. In addition, the mountainside probably won't offer any water. One way or another, I expect that we won't be here longer than a day." As soon as he said it, he wished he had phrased it differently as a shadow crossed Allura's face.

Allura turned away from him. 'One way or another' he had said. Either the team would rescue them or they would be in Lotor's control. She felt a tug at her hand.

"Let's give the mountain a try."

Managing only a wan smile, she nodded her agreement.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Two hours later they were on the mountainside discussing their options.

Breathing a little heavy from the climb and the awkwardness of climbing while holding hands, Keith spoke. "Well, we haven't seen any likely areas for caves and except for trees and shrubs; there isn't anywhere to conceal you. I think we should head back down the mountain."

Allura noted that Keith only mentioned concealing her, not him. Not wanting to argue right now, she pretended she didn't hear it. "I agree. My feet hurt and if we were flushed out up here, we would have a harder time escaping pursuit. Let's go down. I'd like to soak my feet for a few minutes in that stream if we have time." This time her smile was real.

"I think we'll have time for a foot soak. Making a circular trip to the hot spot will probably take us about four hours if we don't run into any Taralonans." Four hours minimum. It was more time than he wanted to use of the bracelet's power source, but they didn't have a choice. The sooner they returned to the thermal feature, the sooner he could turn it off and conserve power.

The trip down went a little faster and less than two hours later, Allura was soaking her feet in the cold stream. She leaned her head back and wiggled her toes blissfully. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Keith sat next to her facing the opposite direction so that the sides of their thighs touched. Even though they had switched hands on and off for the last five hours, their hands were tired and it felt good to relax them. Allura smiled as she heard a rumbling noise and cracked her eyelids to look at Keith.

Shrugging his shoulders, Keith said, "Sorry, I'm hungry. I guess my stomach was being vocal." He pulled out a root and bit into it while giving her one as well. "I would say that we should chew on some soft inner tree bark, but that would leave evidence of where we were. I'll look for more of the roots as we walk along. We'll stick to the bank of the stream and walk in it some of the time. It will help disguise our tracks." Maybe they would come across a downed tree and he could look for some grubs. Turning back to Allura, he said, "Five more minutes then we've got to get moving again."

Allura laid all the way back on the grassy bank, chewed on the root, and closed her eyes. Less than a day and they'd be free or captured. It was hard to get the thoughts out of her mind.

Keith shook her leg and when she sat up, he reached across his body to take her right hand in his left. Standing, they brushed each other off and then began walking alongside the stream.

As they walked along the bank, Keith glanced over into the stream and stopped. "Was that a fish?"

Allura stopped and looked. Her searching eyes were rewarded with a flash of silver and movement under the water. "Yes! I saw it!"

Reaching down to take one of the knives out of his boot, he moved with her into the trees. After selecting a straight strong stick, he cut a length of vine and with Allura maintaining physical contact, he tied the knife to the stick making a spear. It wasn't easy, but with a little work, Keith was able to spear a fish.

Looking at the fish as Keith gutted and cleaned it, Allura wrinkled her nose. "You're sure it's safe to eat raw?"

"Yes. There is no poisonous aquatic life on Armor. On earth, some types of raw fish are considered a delicacy." He laughed as the wrinkle stayed in her nose. Even though she wasn't excited about the raw fish, Keith was pleased that she ate everything he gave her. It wasn't sushi, but he had to admit that it was better than the roots and a lot easier on the jaw muscles. However, they both drank a lot to wash down the taste and then they moved on.

They hadn't gone far, perhaps thirty yards from the stream, when Keith stopped them. There was a four foot drop where they both jumped down. The jump wasn't a problem, in fact it was a benefit. Looking at Allura's perplexed expression, he explained, "Let's walk a little ways in both directions. Sometimes with a drop like this there might be a small burrow or den. It might not be large, but that could work in our favor as they will be less likely to look for you there." Leading the way, they had gone about forty yards when Keith spotted a large deciduous tree growing along the ledge. The large roots grew like a waterfall over the side with a tangle of shrubs stretching for yards on either side. Walking up to the shrub barrier, they could see that water running over the ledge and roots had washed out a hollow behind the roots. Keith and Allura pressed their way through the greenery so they were at the base of the ledge. Without even being asked, Allura squatted down and slid behind the roots.

"It's actually pretty roomy in here compared to the crevice at the hot spot and I like that I can see out through some of the roots. Can you see me?"

Maneuvering the best he could while holding her hand, he didn't see anything that indicated her presence. "No, I don't think you'll be seen." He felt a pull on his hand as she started making her way out from behind the roots.

Shaking off the debris that had clung to her clothes, she sadly said, "The only thing I didn't like is that there isn't room for us both."

Keith didn't say anything but led her back to where they had initially jumped down. He stopped there for a few moments, looking intently at the area, taking note of a tree with orange blossoms and a large purplish boulder. That hollow behind the roots might be very important later and he would need to be able to locate it quickly. He would be mentally marking the rest of the trip to the hot spot so that they could follow this route if they needed to.

Allura watched Keith taking in the landscape. She knew he was making a mental map and she knew that he would be quiet as they continued. She sighed as she thought of the silence that would be their third companion on the trek.

Her feet were dragging over two hours later, but Keith seemed to be fine. Of course he hadn't been walking barefoot most of the way like she had. Barefoot or heels were her choices while he had on hiking boots. While looking down at his boots and feeling envious, she tripped and it was only his strong grip on her hand that kept her from taking a hard fall.

Reaching his other hand out to steady her, he worriedly inquired, "Are you okay? Do you need a break?" He turned and led her over to a downed tree.

Sitting down on the tree with him, Allura said, "I don't want to slow us down."

"You're not slowing us down. You've done amazing and I'm proud of what you've done in this situation." Seeing she was still looking down at the ground, he placed a finger under her chin and turned he face towards him. "I'm not lying to you or making this up." He didn't feel any better when a tear slipped down her cheek. He had been pushing them both and while he was trained to do it, she wasn't, even with the training that he had her do back on Arus. Pulling her into an embrace, he made his decision. If they were able to make it to the thermal feature and it had been searched, they would stay there until they were flushed out. She was just too tired and worn to continue.

After being held for many minutes, Allura pulled back from the embrace. He was resting for her but she knew they needed to move on. Feeling better, she dared to ask, "How long do you think it will be before the team arrives?"

Taking her hand and rubbing his thumb across the top of it, he said, "I think it will probably be seven hours before they arrive, but it will probably be longer before they locate us. If you hear one of the Lions, you should turn off the bracelet and run to the highest point you can. They will be scanning for our bio-signatures which the dampening bracelet also masks."

"How long do you think the dampening field will hold out?"

"With both of us using it, it will last maybe five to six hours. But if it is just you using it, probably ten to twelve hours." He stood and pulled her up.

"But if we're at the hot spot, we won't have to use it at all."

"That's why we're going there. Let's hope they have already searched it. We'll need to be very quiet the rest of the way. We're only about a mile from the site. If you see signs of the search party-"

"Don't worry, I'll let you know."

With a nod from Keith, they started forward as quietly as they could go. About half a mile from their goal they came across signs that the soldiers had been in this direction and had spread out to search a large area. Putting a finger to lips, Keith examined the signs left behind and listened intently. Speaking softly he said, "I think it's been a few hours, but who knows if they are moving slowly or have stopped just ahead. We need to be vigilant." Giving her hand a squeeze, he moved forward leaving her to follow in his wake.

Twenty minutes later, they were squatting behind some shrubs at the tree line of the hot spot. There was no one in sight but Keith had his blaster in hand and so did she.

"We need to go around the perimeter of the feature and check it out from all angles and see if we can see which direction they went after here." Looking down to their joined hands, he said, "We're close enough to the feature now, that it's safe to let go." With that he released her hand and turned off the bracelet with a bright flash of light. After being in constant physical contact for hours, it was an odd feeling for both of them.

After making their way around the feature and finding no soldiers and no monitoring devices, they went to the stream to refresh themselves. Water was dripping from Allura's face as she asked, "What do we do now?"

Keith sat back on the bank and looked around. "Well, they all seemed to have gone off in that direction." He indicated the way by nodding his head. "I'd like to go for a quick look if you don't mind me using the bracelet." Seeing her look of surprise, he continued, "I'd want you to be in the hiding spot and that means you'd be standing in that confined space for probably thirty minutes. I know that's a long time and I understand if you don't want to do it."

Keith hadn't even finished his sentence before Allura was taking off the bracelet. Handing it to him, she simply said, "You need to do this. Go."

A few minutes later he walked her over to the fissure in the rock face that would hide her until he returned. He stopped her before she slid her way between the rocks. Seeing her turn and look at him, he leaned down and gave her a quick and simple kiss and then moved away. Perhaps that had been unfair of him, but it was done and he didn't regret it.

Allura looked at him. Why? Why had he kissed her now, when he was going out in the woods to look for the soldiers? She looked away from him as she wedged herself into the crevice. As she stood in the dark, silent warmth, she thought maybe he did it because it made him stronger. At least that was the answer that she was willing to consider.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

**Author's Note:** Just felt like uploading a second chapter today. I've actually managed to get some housework and other stuff done amidst my K/A fic writing, so I'm publishing an extra chapter to celebrate! Hope you enjoy it as things heat up...

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Once Allura was hidden from sight, Keith went out to search for the soldiers. Moving quicker on his own, he was able to cover a good distance in fifteen minutes, which was as much time as he was willing to go in one direction. There was no sign of the Taralonans. Hopefully, they would have at least a few hours of relief, maybe more. Taking one last look into the forest ahead of him, he turned back.

After checking around the perimeter of the hot spot, he proceeded to Allura's hiding spot and was relieved when she quickly answered his greeting.

After edging her way out of the cramped crevice, she brushed some small pebbles off her clothing. The way in and out was so tight that she dislodged a few pebbles and stones every time. Luckily, they blended in with the others already on the ground. Taking one last look at her dirt stained clothing, she asked Keith about his search. "Did you find them?"

"No, I traveled about a mile or so and found nothing but the evidence that they had passed that way. I think we have at least several hours here and I suggest we make the most of it. I know it's not even noon, but I think after we have some water and roots, you should try to sleep." Seeing her look of surprise, he added, "We may soon have to be on the run."

"You should sleep too."

"Perhaps."

She hated his answer as she knew that it meant he wouldn't sleep. However, as much as she wanted to argue with him about not needing a nap, her body was crying out for rest. So, after eating, she followed Keith's suggestion and fell asleep beside him as they hid in the edge of the tree line.

Looking at her face in peaceful slumber, he said a silent prayer. She had been asleep for almost two hours. Everything was quiet. He hadn't heard any drones, nor any movement, or seen any soldiers. It was almost too good to be true, but he would take it for as long as he could. An hour more of sleep, that was probably all he'd be able to give her. At that point, he would need to wake her up to go over his plan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Allura sat against the small tree rubbing her tired eyes. Keith had awakened her just a few minutes ago and she was still trying to piece together their current situation. Unfortunately, it was all coming back to her… the deaths, being on the run, worry about Lotor…. Yes, it was obvious why her mind hadn't wanted to bring all that back to her too quickly.

"Let's get something to drink and then we can make plans." Keith reached a hand down to pull up the still groggy princess.

After drinking their fill and making their way back over to the tree line and propping against a couple of trees, Keith spoke up. "We need to have plans in mind so that we won't be caught off-guard. At least I hope we won't." At that he gave her a rueful smile. "I'm sure we've been on the run for at least twenty-four hours and I hope that we'll see some lions in two to four hours."

A bright smile lit Allura's face. "Really, Keith? Two hours?"

Not wanting her to get her hopes up too high, he held up a hand. "That's on the best case side. It will probably be closer to three at the earliest. I just wanted you to know that help could be here soon." He paused for moment, looking carefully at her face. "You were looking down before you rested and it looked like you still felt that way when you woke up."

At his penetrating gaze and accurate assessment, she turned from him and ran her hand over the rough stubby grass that grew here at the edge of the hot spot. Its yellow color made it look diseased, but blue and yellow were the colors of grass on Armor. She heard her name and knew that Keith wanted a response from her. Shrugging slightly, she responded, "At least three of our party are dead. Who knows about Anthony and Molly. Lotor is expecting us to be turned over to him for debased pleasure. And you… you're planning on leaving me here to draw the soldiers away."

Surprise registered on his face. It shouldn't have. She was bright and resourceful. She also knew his character very well and with some of the comments he had made, it really wasn't that much of a jump for her to make. _He_ had underestimated Allura this time. "Part of your worries we can't control and don't know about. As for me, I won't go anywhere unless I have to." The answer didn't satisfy her, but it was the best one he could give her. "Best case scenario is, the Lions arrive before the search parties. They can track us by our bio-signatures. Now on to the less pleasant options. The search party arrives and we can't get you hidden in time. We'll activate the bracelet and we'll go back toward the mountain or toward the hidden ledge we found. We'll choose our direction based on where the search party is coming from. If they arrive and we have time to hide you, you will need to active the bracelet until they leave. I don't want to take a chance if they are that close. I'll head out into the forest to draw them off."

"You know I don't like that last plan and I don't think it will work. They will know that I am around the hot spot. They will never believe that you sent me off into the woods alone, even with the dampening bracelet. I think some of them will pursue you and some will stay to look for me."

Keith nodded. He had thought about that as well. Perhaps it would be best for them to stick together. "I agree that scenario is possible and I'm willing for us both to go into the woods together if you promise me something. If I say that we need to separate, you won't argue with me."

Allura knew that this was not negotiable. If he found it necessary, she would have to follow his direction or they both would be caught. There wouldn't be time for arguments and she knew it. "Okay. No arguing, I will do as you say."

"Just remember, we only have a few hours to hold out. Maybe we won't have to flee into the woods." Keith sincerely hoped that he was correct and that the team didn't run into anything to slow them down. Seeing her nod, he continued, "If we separate, I don't plan to be caught, but you need to be prepared for that if I am."

"What are you talking about?"

Letting out a deep breath, he said, "I am pretty sure that they will try to use me to lure you out. You have to remain strong no matter what they say or do."

"Keith! There's no way that I-"

He broke into her comments physically by taking hold of her hands and verbally by saying, "Allura, their final plan is to turn us _both_ over to Lotor. They _won't_ kill me. I'm sure they will rough me up, but it won't be anything that can't heal." Seeing that she was unconvinced and pained at that though, he used his best argument. "If they kill me, they won't have any leverage against you and worst of all for them, they won't have either of us to turn over to Lotor. We both know his rages. He'll level the planet if they don't produce at least one of us, and even then, he'll be ticked off." Finally he saw a small smile.

"I think the correct phrase would be 'royally pissed.'"

Keith laughed. "Indeed, Princess, that would be the most appropriate phrase for Lotor."

"Okay, if it comes to it, I'll try to hold out. I can't guarantee it, but I'll try."

Squeezing her hands again, he repeated, "They WON'T kill me." Pausing for just a moment he continued with the planning. "Now, if you are by yourself and you hear one of the Lions, turn the bracelet off, but don't come out unless the area is free of Taralonans. If I'm trying to lure the soldiers away, the team will already be able to track me."

Rubbing her head, Allura said, "I'm ready for this to be over. I want to know how Molly and Anthony are doing."

Not having anything else to say, Keith said, "I'm going to gather us a few roots."

She watched Keith rise and head towards the vegetation that would provide them with their meal. Thoughts crowded her mind as she rubbed her head some more.

Keith placed his hand at the bottom of the plants in the edge of the stream and pulled up some of the roots. He would only get enough for two meals. No need to leave extra plant vegetation about that would signal their presence. The reddish brown mud washed off his hands and the roots and moved downstream. Soon the stream was as clear as it had been just minutes before and he headed back to Allura. Neither of them was thrilled with the roots, but they filled their stomachs and provided them with the energy they needed to keep them going.

They spent the next hour or so resting pensively. Periodically, Keith would get up and move about the perimeter, listening carefully for sounds of movement from the forest. He couldn't let his guard down. He felt a rescue would be coming soon and it would be easier for the team to rescue them here than if they were captured and locked away in some room in the facility or on a ship. Standing up he began one of his perimeter checks. He was standing at the point where they had ventured out the day before that led to cliff and the billowing grassy plain, when he heard a humming sound. He waited only a moment more to confirm the sound and then he turned and ran in Allura's direction. He was glad to see that she was up and slipping her shoes on. The sight of him running was enough to alert her to the danger. As he neared her, he saw her activate the bracelet and extend her hand.

Allura saw him slowing down as he approached so she started jogging toward the trees. She felt him take her hand and move to lead her into the woods. The flash of the dampening field enveloped them as they dashed into the trees. The pace he was moving at was faster than any pace they had traveled at since the first two hours of their escape.

They were both breathing heavily an hour later when he finally paused to take a breath. She recognized the path they were on. They were heading back to the ledge and the hiding spot behind the roots. Allura took stock of her clothing. There were more stains and numerous rips and Keith didn't look much better.

Catching his breath, Keith said, "I'm sure you recognize the route. We should be to the spot in about thirty minutes. Even though we can't hear them all the time, I know they are behind us. They are using both droids and soldiers, so we can't delay too long." He paused here to get another breath. "We'll move slower and you'll need to take off your heels, we can't have them leaving tracks when we get closer to the hiding spot. As we get closer to the spot, I will periodically let go of your hand."

"What?! You can't do that! They will be able to find us!"

"I'll be doing it sporadically so they'll think that the power source is failing or perhaps it's malfunctioning. That way, when I leave you to hide behind the roots, they'll think that the bracelet just stopped working and won't look for you in that area."

It was at this point that she hated that she had agreed to no arguing. However, his plan was good. If only they would hear the roar of a Lion in the next half hour, they wouldn't have to part. She only nodded her agreement as she took off her shoes and followed him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Fifteen minutes after their short break, she felt him drop her hand. She stumbled and he reached out and caught her and then let her go again. The connection was broken for only thirty seconds or so, but it felt much longer. After that, every minute or two he would break the connection for longer and longer periods of time.

Pushing through the foliage, he looked ahead. He could see the ledge they had discovered and the location of where they would divert to the hiding spot. "Princess, when I take your hand this time, I'm not letting go until you are in the hiding spot and then I'll run back here and continue towards the mountain. We'll have to move fast I don't want them fixing on this spot too long."

In just a few minutes they were at the ledge. When he took her hand, he took off toward the spot. They were almost at a run and she was struggling to keep up as leafy branches brushed roughly across her face. Luckily, the tree spot was only a short ways away. Pushing quickly through the shrubs he knelt down to help her behind the roots. She stopped while they were both on their knees and without breaking contact pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Not knowing what would happen, he gave into the passion he felt for the moment. Breaking away, he said, "We don't have time for this, Allura."

Searching his eyes, she demanded, "Promise me that we will have time later."

"I promise." He gave the promise because he had too and because he believed the team would come. She acknowledged his promise by moving behind the roots. When his hand dropped from hers he took one last look at her face and then pushed out of the bushes.

She could hear him running and though he wouldn't have approved, she crawled out from behind the roots and stood to watch him as he ran out of sight. "You promised," was what she said as he left her view. Turning, she crawled back behind the roots and listened for pursuit and the Lions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, Keith was sweating profusely as he stopped for a quick drink at a stream. He had put a little space between himself and the pursuers, but it was only a matter of time before they caught him. Taking a little more time, he affixed one of his knives to a stick to make a spear like he did earlier when they were fishing. It wasn't much, but it was another weapon at his disposal. He left the other knife in his boot and knowing there wasn't anything else he could do, he took off at a run.

General Tolar stood in a clearing a few miles away with Premier Horton, who had just arrived on-scene. "The dampening bracelet finally gave out about an hour ago. It's only the commander. We have troops searching the thermal feature that he fled from; we're sure that he left her there. Unfortunately, the thermal features are very good at masking heat signatures and there are a number of rocky hills and outcroppings. She could easily be in a crevice that we haven't found."

"Send more troops there to search. We need to find her." Looking out at the forest in front of him, he continued, "Of course, if we get Kogane, I think we can get her. Don't let him slip through your fingers. The ease at which he has eluded us is embarrassing. Thankfully, none of our clients will ever learn of this or our sales could be permanently damaged."

Tolar nodded. "The soldiers and droids have been moving him in this direction and I expect him to be here in the next half hour. There won't be any choice but for him to surrender or to be stunned."

"If I were you, General, I'd go with the thought that he'll have to be stunned. Also, do you have the equipment I suggested to shackle him?" At Tolar's affirmative nod, he said, "Good. I don't plan on another escape. We are running out of time. When we contacted Arus, they had already spoken with the Arusian soldier on Taralono. They had great difficulty believing that both the princess and the commander were dead even after seeing the videos we sent them. They indicated that they were sending part of the Voltron Force to speak with us and investigate the scene. I expect that they could arrive at any time. If they arrive before we have Kogane and Allura in a dampening cell…"

"I understand, Premier."

Taking a few shuffling steps to face the general he said with a scowl, "Do you really understand, General? If the Voltron Force finds that we were trying to trade their princess and commander to Lotor, the Alliance will bring their military to bear on us. They've wanted our technology for years and have been angry that we haven't joined the Alliance. Then there's Lotor. He'll either level our planet or the Alliance will come in and 'save' us and take the technology that they want anyway. There's really only one option for us. We have to do what it takes to capture the fugitives. Are you ready to do that, General?"

"Yes, sir!"

As Tolar answered, shots could be heard in the edge of the woods. Moments later, the figure of the commander could be seen in the tree line.

Keith could feel the blood running down his forehead and into his eyes. They hadn't shot him, but in evading an attempt to stun him, he had fallen and almost knocked himself out. In a different situation, Lance would have had a great time teasing him about that bit of coordination, or lack thereof. Lance. "Where are you buddy?" He looked ahead and could see the trees thinning. A clearing. That was bad news for him, he'd have to skirt it. Turning to his left, he only got about forty yards before he met with resistance in that direction as well. They were leaving him only one choice- the clearing. Stopping at the tree line, he thought, _'So be it._'

With his weapons pointed down, he calmly walked out into the clearing toward the hovercraft that was in the middle. He heard the droids and soldiers coming out of the forest but he didn't turn to acknowledge them. They would either stun him or follow him to the hovercraft. He was guessing they would let him walk unless he raised a weapon. Stopping about twenty yards from the craft he looked up at Horton. "It seems that your technology might not be of the caliber that Arus would like, if two people can evade you so easily for so long." Keith was rewarded by seeing a vein stand out on Horton's forehead. He didn't mention the bracelet technology as he wasn't wearing it and he didn't want them speculating about where it was.

"Should I even bother asking you where Princess Allura is, Commander?"

"You can ask, but I'm sure that you already know if I've gone to these lengths already, that I won't be telling."

"Indeed, Commander, I knew that. I also know that torturing you won't cause you to talk. However, torturing you may cause the princess to give herself up." An evil smile came over Horton's face as he taunted, "I'm sure that Lotor will enjoy both of my gifts. Perhaps he'll also torture you to get what he wants from Allura-"

Keith knew that he was giving in by responding, but he couldn't resist. Bringing an arm up, he quickly fired off two shots. One caught Tolar in the chest and the other caught Horton in the arm. This time, the setting wasn't on stun. Keith dropped to the ground as shots fired over his head and he heard the screams from the hovercraft. He felt sure that Tolar was dead, but unfortunately, Horton was only grazed and would now be in a frenzy. He should have shot him first. Rolling on the ground, he fired and took out two droids and three soldiers before the sheer number of them turned the odds against him and a stun shot took him out. He glimpsed booted feet walking towards him before he blacked out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. The Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

It had been about two hours since Keith had left. Not long after he had left her sight, soldiers and droids had come past her location and hadn't even spared a glance at her secret hideaway. Oh, if only it had been big enough for the two of them. She peaked through the roots to look at the tree canopy. There had been no sounds of Lions or any other craft. _'Where are they?_' Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps and breaking branches. Whoever was coming wasn't worried about stealth and they stopped fairly close to her location. She held her breath as she heard them speak.

"This place should work fine. Hold the speaker up higher. The sound travels better. I'll radio the Premier and tell him he can begin."

She heard some mumbling and then the voice of the premier. "Princess Allura, I am in a clearing not far away. I have the commander and I have to say that I am very displeased with him and had to punish him. Here, I'll demonstrate with this stun baton." Horton stopped speaking for a few moments and then a sound that was obviously Keith moaning was heard. "I'm sorry that his pain wasn't louder, but you see, this is the third location that my soldiers have stopped at to broadcast this message. The commander was much louder at the beginning. There will be one more stop before they reach the thermal feature. I wonder how long his heart can hold out with all this electrical current running through his body? Come out, Princess, and I'll stop it. Your final chance will be at the broadcast at the thermal feature. At that point I'll just kill him."

Allura couldn't force her hands from her mouth. Horton had sounded very serious about killing him, but Keith said it would all be a ruse. Had Keith done something that made the premier threaten this? She heard the soldiers moving forward toward the hot spot. Keith would berate her, but she would wait awhile and then follow the soldiers. She HAD to be at the hot spot. She had to be in a position to stop Horton if he tried to follow through with his threat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After ending the broadcast, Horton went over and kicked Keith in the stomach causing him to pull against his restraints. The premier rubbed his arm that was held against him in a sling and looked at his captive. The commander had on leg shackles and his hands were cuffed behind his back. A collar was around his neck and it contained two loops that had long poles attached to them. Two soldiers held the poles keeping Keith upright on his knees after the kick.

Keith opened his eyes and looked at Horton through pained eyes. "You're not going to find her."

Horton signaled and the soldiers pulled on the poles causing Keith to rise to his unsteady feet. After the initial stun, the soldiers and Horton had taken out their anger on him and he was now covered in bruises, bumps and cuts. Having been shocked with the baton three additional times hadn't helped anything. His world spun as they forced him to stand and the only reason he remained upright was the two soldiers holding the poles.

"It's time to go to the thermal area now, Commander. We'll do the rest of our broadcast from there. One way or another, it will all end there."

What did he mean by that? Keith wasn't sure and his mind wouldn't let him think about anything except the pain he was feeling as the soldiers almost dragged him to the back of the small hovercraft.

Keith endured the shock and the kick or punch that came with it after the next broadcast. It had been a little less than an hour since all this had begun. He wasn't sure of the time, it had probably been longer, but he had blacked out a couple times and he didn't know for how long. Right now, he was on his knees in the middle of the thermal area where he and Allura had spent time. It was just a matter now of waiting for the last broadcast. Allura had held out so far, he knew she had the courage to make it, it was her compassion that might get her caught. A flash of dirty yellow caught his eye in the tree line. '_No_,' he thought and closed his eyes.

When Allura arrived at the thermal feature, Keith was kneeling on the ground between two soldiers. His coat and shirt were gone and she could see the bruises and cuts on his body even from a distance. She had her blaster in hand and went to find the best vantage point that she could. She had turned off the bracelet as she entered the tree line. Perhaps it could still be of use.

Horton signaled and the speaker was raised. "This is your last chance, Princess Allura. We will still find you and turn you over, but you will go to Lotor alone. This time, when I use the baton, I won't stop until his heart does. Do you understand me, Princess? I am going to kill him and I'm going to do it right now." With that he walked in front of Keith so that he could place the baton on his chest. Looking down in the commander eyes, he said in a soft voice, "Don't worry, Commander, you'll only be dead for a few minutes. We'll take you immediately to my ship and resuscitate you. I don't want to deprive Prince Lotor of his fun." Then with a gleam in his eye, he added, "But I have to say that I'll enjoy watching you die, even if it's only for a few minutes."

Before Horton could press the button to activate the baton, a shot was fired from the trees and it struck Horton in his good shoulder, felling him to the ground. He writhed on the grass in pain as chaos ensued. Keith was yanked back by the soldiers and fell to the ground. Medics and soldiers were moving about as more shots were fired from the tree line. Horton managed to yell, "It's the Princess! Be careful! We need her unharmed!" After that he let out a string of curses as he rolled on the ground in pain.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its characters. The Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Keith looked around and saw that the soldiers that had been restraining him had left to help Horton. However, he didn't have much chance of escape with the cuffs, leg shackles, and poles dangling from his neck. From his prone position he saw his avenue of escape. Red Lion was flying overhead and as it descended, the soldiers began to flee. He was just starting to smile when he was pulled up roughly by two soldiers. He saw Horton on a stretcher ahead of him as he was dragged behind him. He could hear Horton yelling, "Don't let the commander go, he's our only chance to escape!" Soon he was back kneeling on the hovercraft with the stretcher bearing the premier next to him. Looking over the side of the hovercraft he saw Red landing on the opposite side of the clearing. If he had landed closer he could have blown the hovercraft over. Hearing another sound he looked up to see Yellow hovering over them preventing them from taking off.

"Don't even think about taking off until you hand over the commander and the princess!" Lance called out. He had come over from Red without challenge as the majority of the soldiers had run off at the appearance of the Lions.

Lar knew that everyone on the hovercraft was in a lot of trouble, with himself and Horton being in the deepest trouble. The commander was their only hope of escape. He rushed over and put Keith between himself and the approaching member of the Voltron Force. It was McClain, the one known for being a hot-head. Pulling Keith's head back using his hair, he laid the cold steel of a knife against his throat. "Stop right there, McClain!"

"Or what? You'll cut his throat and then I'll blow your head off?"

Keith stared up at Lar and the Yellow Lion above in the distance and then laughed. It earned him a tighter pull on his hair and a glare from Lar. "I don't see why you find this so funny."

Still looking up at him, Keith responded in a loud voice, "Lt. McClain could blow your head off right now before you could even use your knife. He's giving you and the others a chance to surrender. I'd take it if I were you. Since you're not going to be able to fulfill your bargain with Doom, I think a Galaxy Alliance jail would be the safest place for you." He saw Lar working through that.

Horton was struggling to sit up with one arm in a sling and the other bleeding from the shot that Allura had put in him. "It's over, Lar. With my injuries and the price that would be on our heads, it will probably be best for us to surrender."

"It might be best for you and the others," Lar sneered, "but I want to have a life and if I have the commander with me, they'll have to let me off the surface." He was looking back and forth between Horton and Lance. During the conversation, the knife had moved away from Keith's neck. Lar had forgotten that Princess Allura was still at large and didn't see her approaching him from behind. So in ignorance, he continued, "After all, I'm uninjured and -"

The words had barely left his mouth when a shot rang out and he collapsed forward, pushing Keith down. Lar rolled off of him and was holding his shoulder. Keith looked down at the knife that was now sticking out of his leg. Lar hadn't intended to do it, it had just happened as he had fallen down. Studying the wound in a detached way, he realized it hadn't gone all the way through and it was in the wrong place to have nicked the femoral artery. It hurt like hell right now, but in the end, it would just be another scar that he earned protecting Allura. A small price to pay.

"Hey you look a little rough, Commander." Lance said with a smile as he contacted Hunk. "Yeah, Hunk, they're fine, but we're going to need some GA soldiers down here pronto and medics."

"GA soldiers? What's-"

Keith's questions were interrupted by Allura yelling, "He cut you? Was it because I shot him?" She rushed over to his side and put her hand toward the knife and then pulled her hand back. Looking him in the eye, she asked, "Are you all right?"

"Um, well, not really."

"What hurts most? What can I do?" The concerned questions tumbled from the princess as she struggled to figure out how to assist him.

"Well, I'd really like to get my hand cuffs and the leg shackles off. Not to mention this collar with the poles."

Lance started laughing and Allura blushed. Lance responded by going over to Lar and finding the keys to the items in his coat pocket and handing them to Allura. By this time, shuttles had arrived to take the wounded to a GA ship in orbit. Allura said she'd ride up with Keith. Hunk and Lance would dock their Lions in the vessel and join them in the infirmary.

An hour later, Keith was stitched up and receiving an IV of antibiotics. While he was being stitched, the nurses had convinced Allura to shower and change.

Walking back to the infirmary, the princess admitted to herself that she was glad that she had changed and cleaned up. Taking that shower had been wonderful and when she came out of the bathroom to get ready, Molly had enveloped her in a hug. She had been able to get away from her only by promising to tell her everything later. It was going to be an exhausting evening, but she was glad that Molly was safe. Through Molly, she had also learned that Anthony was on board and safe as well. At least she wouldn't have their deaths on her mind. As she entered Keith's room, she thought he looked grimy compared to the pristine white of the room. Keith still didn't have on a shirt and his socks and shoes were gone. He was still wearing the dirty pants, although the right pant leg had been cut off about mid-thigh so they could treat the knife wound.

Seeing the look on her face as she entered, Keith commented, "I know, I'm still filthy. I'm hoping they'll let me have a shower later?" It came out as a question to the pretty nurse that stood beside him making notes on a tiny computer. He gave a sigh of relief as she nodded yes and smiled.

Lance let out a snicker as he looked at Princess and then Keith. "I think I'd request a sponge bath if I were you, Keith." He smiled as Keith once again glared at him and then he saw that Allura was glaring too. Ah, a chance to get them both he thought. Turning to Allura he said, "I didn't say that it had to be a nurse that gave him the sponge bath." Yep, got her, he thought, as she blushed.

Keith cleared his throat, and brought them back to the moment. "I've given the guys a quick rundown on what happened with us since our arrival and Lance was just getting ready to explain to me why we're on a GA ship." He turned to Lance expectantly, "Continue, Lieutenant."

Standing up now that he was reporting to his commanding officer and not teasing his friend, he began, "When you didn't report in as scheduled, Hunk and I took off immediately while Pidge and Coran contacted Pollux and Gallaxy Garrison. Pollux agreed to send ships to Arus in case of an attack and the Alliance had a fleet less than a day's journey from here. I'm sure you already know that they are very much interested in obtaining some of the technology that Taralono has and were more than willing to come to the aid of Princess Allura and a GA officer."

Keith rolled his eyes. He and Allura had been lucky that they were on a planet that the Alliance wanted something from. He knew the politics of the Alliance and while he loved it and fought for it, he knew that it had flaws as all large governments do. "Well, it was lucky for us that all of you arrived when you did. Allura and I saw a number of weapons that we were interested in before the premier tried to trade us off to Lotor. What do you think our chances are of getting some of those for Arus in reparation for our treatment?"

The smile on Lance's face was huge, but it was Hunk who answered, "Coran, the master negotiator, was hard at work on this area once he learned that the Alliance was willing to assist in your recovery. Arus will be given a number of weapons and they will be transported and protected by the GA to Arus. Coran has all the contractual information. It seems that having the knowledge behind the technology is what is most important to the Alliance."

Nodding his understanding, Keith closed his eyes. The last twenty-four plus hours had been exhausting and the last four especially so as he had been running and fighting to save Allura's life. His eyes opened when Allura asked a question.

"Have the families of Esha, Kip, and Bart been informed of their deaths?"

Lance's smile faded and he walked over to take her hands. "Yes, Princess. We informed them that they were killed in the line of duty and that their families would be cared for by you. The families were proud of the service that the men had given and are grateful for your support."

Tears welled up in Allura's eyes. "Thank you. I will see them personally when I return and we'll have a day to honor them and their families." She glanced over and saw that Keith's eyes were closed again. Knowing he was exhausted, she asked, "How long will we be on the ship and when will we return to Arus?"

"The doctors say that Keith can go anytime after he finishes his IV," Hunk answered part of the question.

Lance continued with the other portion. "We feel that you both need to sleep and once you're rested we can head home. After all, Keith has to be able to fly Black back and while he can put it on auto-pilot, we want to be sure that he's ready for the trip."

"I'm ready now," Keith grumbled. He opened his eyes at the sound of Allura's laughter.

"No. You're not ready. It won't kill you to sleep a little before we head back." The laughter was still evident in her voice.

"Hunk and I are going planet-side to retrieve Black and bring him here to the cargo bay. We'll all bunk here until tomorrow morning and leave first thing. Molly, Anthony, the shuttle, and all of your gear are already on the ship. They are also going to fly us toward Arus so we won't be losing any time." Lance watched his friend's face carefully. He could see him trying to figure out a way to get out of the med facility faster, but he couldn't argue with this plan.

Keith let out what could only be a sigh and waved at them to go. "Go ahead. We'll stay until morning." At that, Hunk and Lance headed out leaving Allura alone with Keith.

Walking over and sitting on the bed, she reached out to take the hand that had been in hers so often over the last two days. "I'm glad you listened to reason for a change." She noticed that he didn't comment, but he did let out a snort. She wasn't beaten up as he was, but she was very tired. She curled up in the bed beside him and they drifted off to sleep together.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Voltron or any of its Taralonans belong to me, but I'm not sure who else would want them…

**All errors belong to me alone. ;-D**

**Sequel to "Saved from the Queen by the Princess." You don't have to read that one first, but events are referenced from the story.**

**Setting/Rating: **Setting is DotU but none of the events took place. I just picture them as 80s DotU and none of the stuff from VF has occurred. Rating is T for kissing and mild violence in later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Hours later, Lance had Black settled in the cargo bay with Red and Yellow. Now he was changed and heading to check on his two friends. He had stopped by the quarters assigned to Allura but he wasn't surprised to find that she wasn't there. There was only one place she'd be right now and that was Keith's room in the infirmary. Smiling and winking at the attractive nurses in the med bay, he continued down the hallway to his destination. He grew a little concerned as he neared the door to see several med bay staff (all female) looking into the window of Keith's door. They were all smiling and some were giggling. When the staff saw him they sobered up and moved away from the door. Finally coming to the door, Lance stopped and looked through the window and shook his head. He couldn't help but smile, even though he knew this would be bad news for Keith and Allura.

Walking into the room, he leaned against the door and took in the sight before him. Keith and Allura were both sound asleep on the bed together. Keith was dressed just as they had left him – shirtless and missing one pant leg. Allura had molded herself to his left side and was sleeping with her head on his shoulder. Her right arm was across his bruised bare chest and her leg draped across his. This was not the way a princess sleeps with a bodyguard or her military commander. The news would be everywhere and it would be back to Arus before they were. Shaking his head he walked over to Allura and gently shook her. "Princess, you need to wake up."

Allura cracked an eye and looked at Lance. What was he doing in her room? She moved her hand up toward her face and as she did so, she felt smooth warm skin under them. Memories flew through her mind's eye so that her blue eyes opened wide at the realization of where she was. Slowly and carefully she sat up. Keith had not slept as much as she had during the escape and he had been through a lot more physically; he needed his sleep. Her face was red as she turned to Lance. She knew what position she had been in when he woke her up.

Lance extended his hand and she took it, sliding off the bed to walk over to a corner. "What were you thinking, Princess?" It was gently said, but she heard a note of reproach in his question.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep. I just meant to lay on the side of the bed with him until he fell asleep." Her tone was defensive.

"Well, you did fall asleep and to anyone who saw you, it appeared that you two are more than just friends. How do think that is gonna play out on Arus?"

Placing her hands on her hips and giving a glance back over to the sleeping commander, she softly but sternly said, "I'm sure you're not going to tell, so it shouldn't be an issue."

Lance took her by the shoulders, and calmly and slowly said, "You've been sleeping with him like that for HOURS." He saw her eyes widen in understanding. "When I came down the hallway, there were at least four staff members peering in the window, smiling and giggling."

Allura turned bright red. "They were looking at us through the window?!" The volume of her voice increased so that Lance put a finger to her lips as they both turned to make sure Keith was still asleep. Seeing that he only stirred, she repeated in a hushed whisper, "They saw us?"

"Yes. I don't think they meant any harm. I think they are happy for the two of you; however, I don't think they are going to keep quiet about it. Think about it. A beautiful princess, in love with a GA pilot, who wouldn't want to share it? It's like a fairy tale to them."

Allura's head dropped as she spoke, "We wanted it to stay a secret longer. Keith is going to kill me."

Lance pulled her into a quick embrace and then let her go. After all, a rumor saying she was hugging two members of the Force would be all they needed to make a bad situation worse. "I don't think he'll kill you and it was an accident. We'll come up with a plan. Maybe we can downplay what happened and say that the rumors are blowing everything out of proportion."

"I hope so, Lance. The thing is, it's not really out of proportion."

"Here, let me walk you to your quarters so you can rest there. I'll come back and sit with Keith. I'll explain everything to him."

"Thanks, Lance."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lance took Allura to her room and then asked Hunk to get her a food tray, explaining to him what had happened. He had listened as Hunk went off on how it wasn't anyone's business but the princess and the commander's. Hunk promised he'd try to cheer up Allura.

Now that Lance was back at Keith's room, he found the bed empty. The shower was running, so the nurse must have come back and fixed his bandage for the shower. Sitting down, he waited for Keith.

Having put on the clothes that had been retrieved from his luggage, Keith continued to towel off his hair as he went back in to his room. Seeing Lance in the room he inquired, "Did Allura go back to her room? She really needs the rest too." At the look on Lance's face he questioned, "Did I miss something?"

Lance took about five minutes to fill Keith in on the details.

Keith sat down on the edge of the bed, the towel hanging around his neck. Looking at Lance he said, "There will be hell to pay back on Arus."

Waving his hand in the air, Lance said, "Maybe not. Maybe we can say that it was blown out of proportion. I mean, after all, you were a supporter of Allura having a ball to find suitors. You haven't been overt in any of your attentions. I think we can play it off to the exhaustion and stress of the last few days. You had fallen asleep and Allura laid down on the bed with you because after everything she's been through, she didn't feel safe without you."

"I don't like the thought of lying to Coran about it. Not when Allura and I really do have feelings. I don't want to start out with Coran like that."

"Keith, it may not be the whole truth, but it is truth. She was clinging to my arm when I took her to her room. The two of you went through a lot. I mean, you know she was the one that shot Horton when he was going to shock you and then she shot Lar when he was using you as leverage." Laughing, he continued, "I didn't realize that Allura was such a good shot." His smile grew when he saw that his friend was smiling now.

"Okay, I'm willing to go with that, but Nanny and Coran will be watching us closely from now on. It's just frustrating." Keith stood to take the towel to the bathroom.

"Feel like a trip to the mess hall to gauge the number of stares you'll get?"

Keith stopped his progress to the bathroom and threw the towel at Lance instead, hitting him squarely in the back of the head.

Lance picked the towel up, tossed it back to Keith and said, "Don't throw in the towel yet, Keith."

Laughing, they both exited the room.

The meal wasn't bad and the stares were there, but Lance and Keith thought part of them were just because they were Voltron Force. It wasn't everyday that your ship housed part of the Force AND three of the famous Lions. After the meal, Keith asked Lance if he would bring Allura to one of the observation rooms. He also asked Lance to guard the door once he returned with Allura.

Just a short while later Keith heard the door open. Turning from the window he saw that Allura had stopped just inside the door. He extended his hand toward her and she walked over to take it, glancing out the window at the stars. "I wanted a chance to talk to you alone for a few minutes before we start on our trip back to Arus tomorrow."

"Keith, I'm so sorry about falling asleep in your bed-"

"Shhhh. It's okay. We'd been through a lot. Lance and I talked; we'll play it off to the stress and exhaustion. And if you don't mind, we'll throw in that you weren't comfortable being alone with strangers after what we had been through, so you stayed in my room."

Smiling up at him, she said, "You know that is actually true. I did feel that way, but I also just wanted to be with you."

Seeing the relief and affection in her eyes, he smiled as he said, "We'll leave that part off when we tell Coran and Nanny. I know they will watch us more closely, but hopefully, they won't detect the truth." Keith was glad he had stationed Lance outside as Allura's hands were wrapped around the back of his neck, playing in his thick hair.

"Are you talking about the truth that you are madly in love with me?"

Sighing, he started to speak, "Allura, you know what we-"

Allura pulled his head down for an extended kiss, only releasing him when she was ready. "I know, Keith. You want to give me time and a chance to meet other men and you don't want to rush things and-"

Laughing, Keith broke in, "Okay, okay, you understand." He rubbed a finger along her cheek. "It's just, this incident puts me again in the role of being an object of your affection because of what I did for you."

Cocking her head to the side, she countered, "You mean, the fact that you were able to keep me safe by taking out the soldiers at the facility, taking the bracelet, and basically using your knowledge of Armor to evade and elude the Taralonans and keep us safe until the team arrived?"

Not sure what her game was, he nodded.

"Well, I'll go ahead and say that I'm not concerned that your feelings for me are because of what I did for you."

Keith only raised an eyebrow at her.

"Come now Commander, you can't have already forgotten how I saved you from Queen Merla." She saw him smile as she continued, "And now I shot the man that would have given you an electrical shock until your heart stopped. Oh, and how about how I shot the man that wanted to injure you and use you to get off the moon? I just want you to know that I don't believe that you love me just because I did those things for you."

Realizing that she was turning the tables on him with his own argument, he just smiled at her as he leaned in for another kiss. He loved her for so many reasons more than those. Perhaps he should stop doubting her feelings for him. They had a plan for Arus and their friends would help them. He would enjoy the moment they had right now before they had to go back to concealing their feelings.

Reveling in his kiss, Allura felt that she had gotten through to the analytical side of Keith with her last argument. Now, they would have to work on convincing Coran and Nanny…. But that could wait she thought as his lips moved up her neck to claim her lips once again.


End file.
